Design Games as Practice: How We Run Them and How to Run Your Own

You can't learn design from theory alone. You need tasks, deadlines and an honest outside view. A design game packs all of that into a compact format: one brief for everyone, limited time, and a result judged by other people. In this guide we explain how Spaceberry Community runs these games, what we've learned, and how anyone can organise one.

design games since September 2024: 9; design games since September 2024
community members on Telegram: 1,500+; community members on Telegram

Why games work as practice

Constraints teach decision-making. With a week instead of “some day”, you have to pick what matters and drop the rest.
A shared brief makes comparison fair. You see how different people solve the same problem, which teaches more than any textbook example.
Voting is feedback. You see what reads at first glance and what goes unnoticed.
The result goes into your portfolio. Finished work with a brief and a deadline is good material for a case study, as long as you label the context honestly.

How to take part and get the most out of it

To make a game real practice rather than just a contest, it helps to set yourself a few rules:

Before the start, decide which skill you want to train: typography, grids, complex states or speed.
Spend the first hour sketching several directions rather than polishing one.
Submit on time even if the work feels imperfect: finished work teaches more than a perfect one that stays in your head.
After the vote, look closely at other entries and note two or three techniques you want to try yourself.

Formats we've tried

Over two years we've tried several formats, and each teaches something different.

Live battle. Our first game was a live design battle in Zoom on 19 September 2024: participants worked in Figma live while viewers watched the process. There were two winners, who shared the prizes: designer glasses and merch. This format teaches you to keep pace and not to freeze when people are watching.

Dribbble shot. A short format with a narrow brief. In October 2024 it was the Smart Home game: three screens for lighting, climate and security, with the winner chosen by anonymous vote. In January 2025 came the Culture and Art desktop shot at 1600×1200, with a free topic chosen by poll.

Redesigning familiar services. A series of redesigns of Ukrainian apps started with Ukrposhta in November 2024; the idea for the series itself was backed in a community poll. In December 2024 there was the Tabletki.ua redesign of at least three main screens, and 92 votes were cast for the winner. These games teach you to work with real constraints and respect the habits of people who already use the product.

Team game. On 12 December 2024 we ran a team game: teams of three, including Spaceberry designers, spent one evening creating a funny yet visually strong landing page for a made-up product, such as a “cat-language translator”. The stages were a quiz, a brainstorm in team chats, design in Figma, and a vote. The winning team was Pixel Lords. This format teaches you to agree on direction and split work quickly.

Tool challenge. In May 2025 we ran an AI challenge: a landing page whose logo, copy and visuals all had to be AI-generated.

Redesign with public value. From 20 January to 3 February 2026, participants reimagined the home page of the NAOMA website, the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, from the point of view of an applicant, a student and a teacher. The direction was chosen by vote, three finalist entries with authorship confirmed via their Figma files made it to the final, and the community chose the winner. Because of power outages, the deadline was extended by two days. The prize was a cash reward.

We check authorship simply: each participant adds a link to the Figma file of their work. The version history and working layers show the layout was made independently, which protects the fairness of the vote.

What we've learned

Let the community choose. We've often picked the topic, the direction or even the idea for a series by poll, so more people feel the game is theirs.
Anonymous voting is fairer. When authors are hidden, people vote for the work, not for their friends.
A specific brief beats a broad one. “Three screens: lighting, climate, security” produces better work than “design a smart home”.
Be flexible with deadlines when there's a reason. During power outages we extended the deadline, and it was the right call.
Prizes can grow with the game. We started with tool subscriptions and gifts and later moved to cash rewards. But what motivates people most is the practice itself and the community's attention.

How to run your own design game, step by step

You can run a game in any group: a course, a team, a circle of designer friends or a local community. Here is the sequence that works for us:

Choose a format. For a first game, the simplest is a 1–3 screen shot with a one-week deadline.
Write a one-page brief. Product, user, number and type of screens, canvas size, must-haves, how to submit.
Set the judging rules. Who votes, whether it's anonymous, how many votes each person gets, whether self-voting is allowed.
Plan an authorship check. The simplest option is to require a link to the working Figma file.
Announce the game in advance. Give a start date, a deadline and a place for questions.
Stay present during the game. Answer questions and send a reminder the day before the deadline.
Collect entries in one place. Use the same presentation format — same sizes, no names if the vote is anonymous.
Run the vote and announce the results. Thank everyone, not only the winners.
Give feedback. A short comment on each entry is worth more than any prize.
Hold a retro. Ask participants what worked and what didn't, and change it next time.

A short organiser's checklist

The brief fits on one page and can't be read two ways.
The deadline is realistic for people who work or study.
The voting rules are published before the start.
There's a way to verify authorship.
All entries are submitted in the same format.
There's a plan for emergencies, such as extending the deadline.
Every participant will get at least brief feedback.
Organisers don't vote if they helped teams or individual participants during the game.
After the game, entries and results are collected on one page so people can come back to them.

If you'd like to try the format yourself, join the next games in Spaceberry Community. All past games, with details, are collected in Activities.