A fluid mechanics course in process engineering designed according to the students’ wishes mixes lecture and exercise in co‐teaching and flipped‐classroom elements with gamification. The effectiveness increases as the number of points achieved in the exam increases by 31.9 % compared to the average of the four previous years. The withdrawal rate drops from 54.8 % to 17.4 % and the failure rate from 38.7 % to 23.7 %, which enhances efficiency. The students’ self‐report shows a better preparation to the course sessions, but they do not feel stressed much additionally. About 80 % of the initially attending students participate at the end of the course.