BAFTA has announced the four winners of BAFTA Young Game Designers (YGD) Awards.
It included categories such as a young designer game concept for the best original game idea, and young designer in game making, which rewards the use of coding skills and readily available software to create a prototype.
The awards took place on June 30 as a unique digital ceremony hosted by actor, comedian and presenter Inel Tomlinson.
This year's winners are:
Game Concept Award (10-14 years): Jasmine Guan, ‘Tiled in Twilight’
Game Concept Award (15-18 years): Jaime Williams, ‘Carrier Pigeon: World Tour’,
Game Making Award (10-14 years): Alfie Wilkinson, ‘Egglien’,
Game Making Award (15-18 years): Andrew Ah-Weng, ‘Space Boids’
At age 13, Newcastle’s Jasmine Guan was the youngest awards winner at the show with her puzzle game Tiled in Twilight, which she described as “a pretty pixelated picross puzzle game where you illuminate the past.”
Alfie Wilkinson, 14, from Portsmouth took home the Game Making Award in the 10-14 years category for his game ‘Egglien’.
In the game, the player uses alien eggs to fight their foes.
The budding game developer was inspired to enter after meeting a previous finalist.
In the 15-18 years division, Jaime Wiliams, 18, from Dundee won the Game Concept Category with Carrier Pigeon: World Tour, “an arcade game about exploration, community, and delivering mail.”
She was also a finalist in 2017 but won for the first time this year.
But it was Andrew Ah-Weng, 15, from London who claimed his second BAFTA Young Game Designers Award in the Game Making Award 15-18 years category.
Andrew also won in the 10-14 category last year with his game ‘Getting Out Of It’.
His latest game ‘Space Boids’ is set in space where the player controls a flock of boids to fight waves of enemies.
Along with their awards, winning games will be featured in the prestigious Power UP exhibition at The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.
The winners and all the finalists will also have access to a range of masterclasses and mentorship from gaming industry professionals, as part of BAFTA’s ongoing commitment to accessible pathways into games.
Kevin Price, Interim Chief Executive of BAFTA, said: “Once again we were blown away by the level of creativity and passion embodied in our four winning games this year. BAFTA Young Game Designers will continue to support the next generation of game-creators, and we are delighted that this offers young people across the UK the chance to pursue their passion at such an early stage.
“Congratulations to all. Bring on next year’s entries.”
