How to brand games for events with your company logo

A game draws a crowd at any corporate event: there is a queue, there is laughter, and half the room ends up filming on their phones. The problem shows up the next morning, when visitors remember the simulator or the prize wheel perfectly well but could not tell you which company brought it. The only thing separating those two outcomes is how much of your brand the game is wearing.

This guide explains how to brand games for events from start to finish: what can genuinely be changed on each machine, which part is physical and which is software, why the prizes are part of the message, and how much lead time you need to be ready for an autumn trade show or an end-of-year party.

What branding a game really means (and what it doesn't)

Branding is not parking a roll-up banner next to the machine. The goal is that the game becomes your brand for as long as the round lasts: the player sees it on the cabinet, on the screen, on the prize they take home and on the T-shirt of the person explaining the rules. The more natural it feels, the less it reads as advertising and the better it is remembered.

In practice a game is branded in three layers that work independently: the physical one (anything printed or wrapped), the digital one (whatever appears on screen and is set up in software) and the experience one (prizes, mechanics and the staff running it). You can use all three or just one, depending on the event.

What never changes is how the machine works: anchors, certified parts and safety measures stay as they are. Customising a game for an event means dressing it up, not altering how it is played.

The physical layer: wraps, banners and branded structures

This is the obvious layer, the one people see from the far end of the hall. The front and sides of an arcade machine are a flat surface made for a full-colour printed wrap, and the same goes for the cabinet, the backdrop or the side panel of a car racing simulator. The wrap is designed for each event and comes off at derig without leaving a mark on the machine.

With large-format games the material changes but the logic is identical: printed banners, skirts, flags and structures in your colours. The branding on a game has to read from a distance, so think about what is legible from ten metres away: a small logo tucked into a corner disappears as soon as there are people standing around.

The digital layer: screens, scoreboards and rankings

More and more games come with a screen, and a screen is the most flexible branded space you will have on a stand. On a digital promotional wheel the design, the prizes and the odds of each one are set in software, so you can change the mechanic from one day to the next without touching anything physical or reprinting a thing.

On games with a scoreboard, the branding that pays off best is the ranking. A leaderboard carrying your logo and the best score of the day brings people back in the afternoon to reclaim first place: that second visit is the one that gives your sales team time to talk.

The prizes carry your brand as well

The prize is the only part of the game the player takes home, so it is as much a part of the branding as the wrap. On an LED ball claw machine we adjust the grip strength and the win rate: gifts go out at the pace you decide.

Promotional prize wheels are printed end to end with your logo and with whichever prize you choose in each segment, and giant plinko works the same way with the slots along the bottom. Branding the prizes of a promotional game is what turns a merchandise giveaway into an activation people talk about over lunch.

And if you want the prize itself to be the show, a wind booth can blow branded vouchers or printed cards around inside: the player walks out with a fistful of prizes and with your name in every photo taken that afternoon.

How far it goes: games made to measure for your brand

Above wraps and software there is one more step: games adapted for a specific campaign. Giant Guess Who has a corporate version in which the characters are replaced by photos of your own team, so the game stops being generic and starts talking about your company.

Our custom branded games page explains how far we can take each family, from changing the colour of a structure to building a mechanic around a product launch. A made-to-measure game needs more time, but it is the one that explains a new product best without anyone having to give a talk.

What to brand depending on your goal

Decide what you want to brand before you pick the game, because every goal leans on a different layer:

• Visibility and photos: big games with the brand on the structure and on the floor, built to be seen from the aisle.
• Lead generation: prize mechanics with a sign-up step, where what matters is the screen, the terms of the draw and the data protection notice.
• Product message: screens, rankings and your own content, so the game says something specific about what you sell.
• Team and celebration: games using photos or names of your staff, a classic at dinners and end-of-year parties.

At a trade show the combination that works best is one large game that pulls people in from a distance and one small prize game that structures the conversation. The big one makes the noise; the small one collects the data.

At a closed corporate event it flips: the guests are already inside, so the fine detail of the branding matters more than the size of the set-up.

How it is prepared, step by step

The process for branding a game is always the same and holds no mystery, but each step needs its own time:

1. Briefing and measurements: you choose the game and we send you the templates with every brandable surface and its real dimensions.
2. Artwork: your designer builds the graphics onto those templates, in vector format and with your corporate colours defined.
3. Proof and sign-off: we review the layout, the colours and the placement of the logo, and you approve it before anything is printed.
4. Production, set-up and derig: the wrap is printed, screens and prizes are configured, we arrive with the game already dressed and everything comes off afterwards without leaving marks.

Ideally you close the design three or four weeks ahead, especially during the busy trade show and corporate party season. If you are tight on time, screens, prizes and rankings are configured during set-up. A good place to start is our catalogue of games for events.

Frequently asked questions

What files do you need to brand a game?

Your logo in vector format, your corporate colours and your brand guidelines if you have them. With that and our templates, your designer can prepare the artwork for the game with no surprises at large-format print size.

How far in advance should it be closed?

Three or four weeks before the event is a comfortable margin for printed graphics. Digital branding (prizes, rankings, on-screen video) accepts changes almost up to the last minute.

Does the wrap damage the game?

No. It is applied for that event and removed at derig without harming the machine, which goes back to its original look. That is why every client can run their own graphics on the same game.

How much does branding a game cost?

It depends on how much surface is printed, whether new parts have to be made and how many games you take to the event. We look at it case by case and break it down in the quote.

If you have a trade show, a convention or a company party coming up and you want the game to talk about your brand, tell us what you are after from our contact page: we will suggest which games fit, what can be branded on each one and how much lead time we need.