Today, BAFTA unveils 52 talented finalists, aged between 12 and 18, who have been selected as part of this year’s BAFTA Young Game Designers Competition, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary. 19 of this year’s finalists are based in London.
BAFTA Young Game Designers works with UK educators to support children who are interested in games, providing them with hands-on experience in the field and creating accessible pathways into games careers. It culminates in the Young Game Designers Competition, which gives talented young winners access to expert insights and advice. For example, this year’s finalists were invited to a webinar with Henry and Fred Hoffman, prior BAFTA Breakthroughs and co-founders of Newfangled Games. Their latest game, Paper Trail, is available on the Netflix mobile app and other major platforms such as PlayStation 5.
This year’s finalists have entered for one of two awards up for grabs: the YGD Game Concept Award, which rewards the most original and best thought-out game idea, and the YGD Game Making Award, which goes to the most impressive use of coding skills on a freely available software, to create a prototype game. Each award is split into two age groups: 10-14 years and 15-18 years.
Arabelle Mazumder (12) from North West London is a finalist in the Game Concept 10-14 category. Her game, titled Reef Revival, tasks players with helping a character – Spongy – rediscover his home after a terrible storm, collecting valuable items on the way to revive the coral that surrounds him. Arabelle was inspired by the environment, saying that she wanted to make the game “fun and exciting, while teaching the importance of protecting marine life.”
Also finalists are Sam Kingston (14) and Sebastian Heitz (14) both from South London, who entered as a team with their game For The Gold in the Game Making 10 – 14 category. For The Gold is their top-down dungeon crawler where players need to gather a large army of troops and advance through a dungeon filled with enemies and treasure, but your score is determined by how much gold you have when you decide to leave the dungeon – die and you get nothing. Sam and Sebastian warn players “good luck out there, and remember; you’re only in there for the gold!”
In the Game Making 15-18 category, finalist Ethan Dale created Dodo-A-Gogo, a fast-paced single player platformer set on the island of Mauritius where players’ mission is to rescue the last two dodos – Danny and Denny – from extinction and lead them to the safety of Lion Mountain. Ethan drew on the African and Indian culture of the island and accompanied the game with an Afro-beats soundtrack.
Finalists were selected on the basis of the creativity of their vision and the technicality of their execution. Winning entries will be judged on their design and suitability for their chosen platform, with the aim of encouraging participants into games careers, and making the industry more accessible to young talent.
2025 winners will be featured in the prestigious Power Up games experience, alongside some of the very best video games and consoles from the past five decades, including an array of previous YGD winners. Power Up will be showcasing this year’s winners from 19 June at the Science Museum in London, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester from 29 June, and for the first time, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford (now open).
Tim Hunter, BAFTA executive director, Learning, Inclusion, Policy & Membership, said: “We’re so grateful for the generous support of our partners, who have enabled us to deliver the BAFTA Young Game Designers initiative for 15 years and counting. It’s a privilege to play a small role in connecting these talented young game designers with the wider industry, as the UK’s leading academy for the screen arts. This year’s finalists have built thoughtful stories and displayed real technical prowess in creating their games, drawing on topics that nearly anyone can relate to – from concerns about climate change to mental health.”
Young Game Designers (YGD) is one of BAFTA’s initiatives to promote the art and craft of games. It specifically targets the next generation of talent, giving young people and educators insights into the industry and access to the brightest creative minds in games. Official Partners of BAFTA Young Game Designers include: Criterion Games, EE, Hasbro, PlayStation and Warner Bros. Games.
The judging jury who selected this year’s finalists out of hundreds of entries represent major British-based gaming companies, including Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham Knight) and Sad Owl Studios (Viewfinder).
