FREE TO PLAY
The UI Game
Navigate 51 levels of intentionally terrible user interfaces.
Can you survive the worst UX ever designed?
Runaway Buttons
Buttons that flee your cursor. Forms that lie. CAPTCHAs from your nightmares.
Beat the Clock
Every level is timed. Earn stars for speed and minimal hint usage.
Compete & Share
Track your stats. Compare scores across profiles. Challenge friends.
The bad design in this game is real
Every level is built on something a genuine product has shipped, or on a documented effect from the research on attention and perception. 17 of them have a write-up: what the pattern is, why it works on people, how to design around it, and the sources behind the claim.
Read the 17 pattern write-ups →Common questions
- What is The UI Game?
- The UI Game is a free browser game of 51 levels, each built around a different deliberately terrible interface: buttons that flee the cursor, forms whose labels lie, CAPTCHAs that will not accept a correct answer. You win a level by completing its task anyway.
- Is The UI Game free?
- Yes, and completely. There is no account, no download, and no purchase anywhere in the game. Every hint, skip and theme is earned by playing. It is paid for by house ads for the developer's own apps and books.
- Does The UI Game track me?
- No. There is no analytics script, no tracking pixel and no advertising network. Your progress is stored in your own browser and never sent anywhere, because there is no server to send it to.
- Is the bad design in the game real?
- Yes. Every level is based either on a pattern shipped by a real product or on a documented effect from research into attention and perception. 17 of them have a write-up explaining the underlying evidence, with sources cited.
- Can I play The UI Game on a phone?
- Yes. Every level works with touch as well as a mouse, in any modern mobile browser. Nothing needs installing.