This is a position paper, presenting also some preliminary results of an experiment in teaching and learning systems engineering design. Students were asked to develop games in conjunction with a system design project. We have measured the effects of the game development on the learned skills, via feedback questionnaires. The preliminary results indicate that students find the game development difficult but also like this aspect the most from the whole coursework. In terms of skills, the ability to adopt a holistic view is considered the most valuable by the students.