Students' cognitive states can reflect a learning experience that results in engagement in an activity. In this study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) physiologically based methodology to evaluate students' levels of attention and relaxation, as well as their learning performance within a traditional and game-based learning context. While no significant differences in the values of attention and relaxation between learning contexts were found, the study found that students who were not familiar with the content tended to pay more attention during game-based learning because this learning approach may be radically different from the way they typically learn. The game-based learning approach successfully attracted more attention from students with low prior knowledge. Game-based learning provides learning content and activities that challenge students to concentrate in order to arrive at solutions. The results of this study provide implications that require further investigation.