Teenager from Hampshire named as finalist in BAFTA game awards
The 15-year-old has been recognised for his game 'Bird in the Woods' in the young designer awards
A fifteen-year-old boy from north Hampshire has been named as a finalist for a BAFTA young game designer award.
Arlo Freer - who lives in Herriard between Basingstoke and Alton - has been named in the 'game making' category for his 'Bird in the Woods' game.
Set in a dilapidated ruin deep in the forest, ‘Bird in the Woods’ is an archery-themed game in which players must manoeuvre their way through a range of puzzles, using as few shots as possible from their magic bow. Impressively, Arlo was able to design and create his game in less than a month.
Arlo Freer said:
“I am really looking forward to being able to hear about a professional’s approach to game design – I’m sure it will be invaluable to me going forward.”
BAFTA YGD is a year-round initiative of public events, workshops and a competition for 10-18 year-olds, culminating in the annual YGD award ceremony to celebrate finalists and winners, which will be streamed digitally on BAFTA Kids & Teens YouTube, with highlights available on LinkedIn.
This year’s ceremony is taking place on Thursday 22 June, and will be hosted by multi-award nominated actor and comedian Inel Tomlinson, for the second year running. Official Partners of BAFTA YGD include: Creative Assembly, Criterion Games, Epic Games, PlayStation, Warner Bros Games, Wizards of the Coast.
This year’s expert jury was chaired by Nick Button-Brown (Founder, The Games Angels), Tara Saunders (Studio Head, PlayStation London Studio), Des Gayle (Founder, Altered Gene) and Catherine Woolley (Senior Designer, Media Molecule), and included some of the most influential figures in British games, such as Joe Straker (BAFTA YGD Alumnus, Producer Intern, Criterion Games), Lauren Kaye (She Plays Games), Gurrashpal Khakh (QA Tester, Rocksteady) and David Valjalo (Creative Director, Tencent Games).
Joe Straker (Juror, YGD Alumnus and Producer Intern at Criterion Games) said:
“It was such a privilege to sit on this year’s jury. Having been a YGD finalist myself back in 2020, I know first-hand both how fierce the competition is, and how many doors are opened up by this opportunity. The networking opportunities BAFTA is able to provide are second to none, and it’s amazing to play a role in selecting the next generation of talented individuals to receive this valuable support.”
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. Winning entries will be judged on gameplay design and their suitability for the chosen games platform, with the aim of supporting accessible career pathways into game design and thus nurturing the future generation of British gamemakers.
You can see Arlo's entry here