13th Verkami DAU Barcelona Proto-game Contest: Your Proto Can Become the Next Published Game
Do you have a board game prototype hidden in a drawer waiting for its opportunity? The 13th Verkami DAU Barcelona Proto-game Contest has already opened for submissions, and at KLEFF, we couldn't miss the chance to tell you all the details. It's the most important prototype contest in Spain, organized by Verkami in collaboration with the DAU Barcelona Festival, and this 2026, it reaches its thirteenth edition with more strength than ever.
As a Barcelona gaming community that organizes weekly board game meetups and closely follows everything happening in the national creative scene, at KLEFF, we know how important these showcases are for creators who want to make the leap to publication. Here's everything you need to know to participate.
Verkami Proto-game Contest
What is the Verkami DAU Barcelona Proto-game Contest?
It is an annual call aimed at board game designers from all over Spain who want to showcase their prototype to the public and to industry publishers. The contest combines the crowdfunding platform Verkami with the in-person showcase of the DAU Barcelona Festival, one of the reference events on the national gaming calendar.
Throughout its previous editions, the contest has promoted the publication of games that are now benchmarks in stores, such as Rebel Princess (Zombi Paella), Nilo (GDM Games), or El Huésped (Devir). In total, 25 winning and finalist games have already been published thanks to a campaign on Verkami with the support of a collaborating publisher, which makes this competition the one with the highest publication rate of finalist and selected prototypes in the country.
Atmosphere of the space set up for testing proto-games at DAU Barcelona
Key Dates for the 13th Contest
Prototype submission deadline: until September 1, 2026.
Selection of the 20 finalist protos: from all received applications.
Celebration at the DAU Barcelona Festival: weekend of November 14 and 15, 2026.
Speed Meeting with publishers: Sunday, November 15, in the morning.
Prizes: What Each Selected Participant Wins
The 20 prototypes that pass the first phase already have a guaranteed prize:
A dedicated table at the DAU Barcelona 2026 Festival throughout the weekend to present the game to publishers, other authors, and the attending public.
A Speed Meeting with collaborating publishers on Sunday morning, November 15, a direct opportunity to connect with those who decide what gets published.
Communication support if the selected project decides to launch a campaign on Verkami to publish the game.
And for the grand winner of the contest, the prize goes even further:
A campaign on Verkami with a 100% discount to publish the game, in collaboration with a publisher.
An initial contribution of 100€ to the campaign.
Communication support across Verkami's channels and those of the collaborating publishers.
21 Collaborating Publishers Eager to Discover New Talent
One of the great strengths of this contest is the number and quality of publishers that participate each year. In this 13th edition, there will be 21 collaborating publishers present in the Verkami Space at the DAU Festival, who will receive information about all selected protos and can participate in the Speed Meeting:
Cónclave Distribuciones, Devir Iberia, DMZ Games, Edítales, GDM Games, Mont Tàber, Games for Gamers, Looping Games, Second Gate Games, SD Distribuciones, Zacatrus!, Do it Games, Rocket Lemon, Nexo Ediciones, Cacahuete Games, Magicbox Toys, Old Teddy's Company, Boquerón Games, Zombi Paella, PIF Games and Last Level Games.
Having this many publishers in one place is an opportunity difficult to match for any author looking for a publisher for their game.
Why Participate in the Contest?
If you are a board game author, this contest offers several advantages that few calls bring together at once:
Real visibility to the public, not just to a jury: hundreds of people will try your prototype during the DAU Barcelona weekend.
Direct contact with publishers actively seeking new projects to publish.
A clear path to funding, thanks to the collaboration with Verkami, the Spanish crowdfunding platform specialized in creative projects.
A proven track record: with 25 games already published as a result of the contest, the chances of your project reaching stores are real, not just a promise.
Award winners from the last edition
KLEFF and the World of Prototyping
At KLEFF, we have been closely following the scene of board game creators in Barcelona for years. We regularly invite authors to present their novelties and Verkami campaigns, as we recently did with Sitting Bull at Kasa Hanaka, and this is not the first time we have discussed Verkami and the DAU Festival on our blog. If you are interested in game design and want to experience firsthand how prototypes are tested and refined before reaching production, we invite you to join our weekly meetups, where we constantly test new releases and also prototypes from authors in our community. Additionally, our game library boasts over 600 games, many of which were published thanks to crowdfunding campaigns like those promoted by this contest.