At a special awards ceremony held on July 25 in London, the winners of the BAFTA Young Game Designers Award were announced. (BAFTA is the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.) The winners of these BAFTA game awards include four game designers between the ages of 10 and 18. An inspirational school teacher and the game Minecraft also won awards.
This is the ceremony’s fifth year. The Game Concept Award category is for a written idea for a game concept. The Game Making Award is for a game that is playable on computer software. Here are the four winners.
Game Concept Award
Camylle Tuliao, age 14, from Basildon in Essex, with Dreams, a first-person roleplaying adventure game
Jack Reynolds, age 15, from Highgate in London, with Ouroboros, a puzzle-platformer
Game Making Award
Louis Jackson, age 11, from Hove in East Sussex, with Block, an innovative platformer
Jack Mills, age 17, from Liverpool, with Utopia of Rhythm, a platformer with elements of a rhythm game
You can find out more about the individual games (and play them!) on the Young Game Designers website. The four winners will receive professional development help with their games. They also get a bunch of other prizes, including game design software and visits to Abertay University and Criterion Games to experience professional game creation.
Mentor Award
The Young Game Designers Mentor Award is in its first year. It went to Ray Chambers, Head of IT at Uppingham Community College in Rutland, East Midlands.
Hero Award
Minecraft was chosen for another first, the Young Game Designers Hero Award, for its support for young game designers.
The Duke of Cambridge—who is the President of BAFTA—had a message of support for the award winners: “I encourage you—our stars of tomorrow—to keep exploring your creativity and see where it takes you. A successful career in one of the fastest growing and most creative industries in this country is very much a possibility, regardless of your background or your gender. Judging by the potential you have already shown, your future, and the future of British games, is very bright indeed.”
