Supporting TalentYoung BAFTA

2026 Young Game Designers: ‘Game Making’ Finalists

Posted: 21 May 2026

The 2026 Young BAFTA Game Making Award finalists have been revealed, so get ready to have a play and be inspired.

Finalists in the category for 10-14 years old game makers are; Chroma’s Wish, Codebreaker, CON-FIEND., Crushendo, Element Quest, Escape School, The Last Lightkeeper, Starlight Zero, Weapon Warrior and Yggdrasil.

Finalists in the category for 15-18 years old game makers are; City Dash, Falemor, Flow State, Hyper Drift, In Your Head, Lattice, Kompis and the Wells of Fontis, Maya, Overclocked, Pix ‘n’ Mix and Snak and Snap.

Game Making Award: 10 -14 years old

A screenshot of the game Chroma's Wish.
Credit: Chroma's Wish.

Chroma's Wish - Marcella Godoy

Chroma’s Wish is a vibrant fantasy pixel-art side-scroller where players choose from three heroes, each with distinct abilities and playstyles. Battle through perilous worlds to stop the powerful God of Shadow, who has stolen the legendary Quill of Creation—an artifact capable of rewriting reality itself.
Download and play
A screenshot of the game Code Breaker. It is a green screen with various criss-crossing grid lines across it.
Credit: Code Breaker

Code Breaker - Robin Wells

Code Breaker is a retro 8 bit inspired shoot 'em up game where you must customize your anti-virus to slay waves of computer viruses to gain score and save your computer from corruption.
Download and play
A screenshot of the game CON-FIEND.
Credit: CON-FIEND

CON-FIEND. - Marcus Man

You are trapped in a dungeon by the BLUE KNIGHTS, and as the GREEN KNIGHT you have to go kill all the knights in the enemy's kingdom; no traitors of the GREEN shall be left alive.
Download and play
A screengrab of the game Crushendo.
Credit: Crushendo.

Crushendo - Leon Dudhill

A fast-paced 2D vertical platformer where you guide a character climbing upward as it automatically jumps in time with your favourite songs using real-time beat detection. Meanwhile crushing walls surge from below, transforming every track into a high pressure rhythmic escape challenge.
Download and play
A screenshot of the game Element Quest.
Credit: Element Quest

Element Quest - Zanna Orunsolu

A brave camper goes on exciting adventures across different elemental lands. Animal guardians give clever challenges for the camper to overcome in order to obtain the lost totems and save the elements.
Open and play
A screengrab of the game Escape School showing a schoolgirl figure stood in a school hallway with lockers behind her.
Credit: Escape School

Escape School - Lexi Clifton-Davies & Gali Brown

Twenty minutes until confinement is guaranteed, but with teachers lurking around every corner and hiding spots scarce, who knows what may happen in this escape room puzzle game?
Download and play
A screenshot of the game The Last Lightkeeper.
Credit: The Last Lightkeeper

The Last Lightkeeper - Siddhi Iyer

You are the last lightkeeper of a dying lighthouse, venturing into the deadly darkness to collect shards, dash through shadow monsters, manage a fading flame, and return safely to upgrade your beacon as each level grows more dangerous.
Download and play
A screenshot of the game Starlight Zero.
Credit: Starlight Zero

Starlight Zero - Ismael Ali

Starlight Zero is a sci-fi platformer following the tale of a young girl seeking hope as she searches for an escape pod beneath a haunted ship that crashed in a burning city engulfed in deadly robots and hazards.
Download and play
A screengrab of the game Weapon Warrior.
Credit: Weapon Warrior

Weapon Warrior - Aleksander Matsikas & Archie Trevor

Weapon Warrior is a bullet hell game where every wave, the player can buy upgrades and fight a boss every five waves until they reach the final boss.
Download and play
A screengrab of the game Yggdrasil.
Credit: Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil - Thiago van Vlerken Rene

Play as a banished Valkyrie exploring Midgard, battling trolls and ravens to recover a stolen amulet, and face Ratatoskr and allies in an epic battle, where you must manage threats from all directions as the dragon Nidhogg eats the floor beneath your feet!
Download and play

Game Making Award: 15 -18 years old

A close up of a city map with red dots on.
Credit: City Dash

City Dash - Daniel Tachauer

Travel around London's great landmarks catering to the whims of a group of characters with a limited amount of time and money.
Download and play
A screenshot of the game Falemor.
Credit: Falemor.

Falemor - Yuri Rybakov

The game is about a shaggy little sheep, exploring the Scottish highlands. Seek the path to the carnival of "Falemor", earn enough for the ticket and save the festival!
Download and play
A mobile style screen with a keypad and the word sister typed out.
Credit: Flow State

Flow State - Dexter Byrne

A fast paced game of word mastery that asks players to type as many words as possible - but they must be linked by two letters within each word.
Download and play
A screengrab of the game Hyperdrift.
Credit: Hyperdrift

HYPER DRIFT - Charlie Swann

A fast paced, action-racing game about racing hovercraft, using drifting and boost mechanics to chase victory. Compete against bot controlled ships to win races and purchase upgrades.
Download and play
A screenshot of the In Your Head game
Credit: In Your Head

In Your Head - Rafe Lepherd, Alex Huynh Anh Le-Hoang, Josh Robinson

In Your Head is a Bullet-Hell style boss-fighter where you figuratively and literally battle depression with coping mechanisms. Strengthening your mental health through bonds in the real world along the way.
Download and play
A purplish coloured grid with the numbers 1 and 2 in different boxes.
Credit: Lattice

Lattice - Alex Bowers

A strategy grid clearer roguelike where the aim is to clear seven rounds of minesweeper, while gaining upgrades between rounds.
Download and play
A screenshot of a frame from Kompis and the Wells of Fontis
Credit: Kompis and the Wells of Fontis

Kompis and the Wells of Fontis - Dylan Williams

A story-based platformer about Kompis, who is trapped down a well with a demon called Evil Thought. He must overcome the demon by making a friend and collecting the wisdom of the ancient Fontis so he can wish himself home. A fun and challenging adventure about finding light in the darkness.
Download and play
A scene from Maya featuring two figures stood in front of a crowd.
Credit: Maya

Maya - D’arcy Dhanda

Maya is the story of a sweatshop worker in India, following the life which lead to her current situation of poverty. Its mechanics imitate real life working conditions, giving the players a glimpse of Maya's reality.
Download and play
A screenshot of the game Overclocked.
Credit: Overclocked

Overclocked - Matthew Scott

An ultra fast-paced sci-fi melee action platformer with a heavy emphasis on momentum, timing and speedrunning.
Download and play
A screengrab of the game Pix 'N' Mix showing a small knight stood in front of a large wooden door.
Credit: Pix 'n' Mix

Pix 'N' Mix - Ethan Dale & Sofia Bautista-Sepulveda

A fun dungeon crawler with a unique combination of drawing and fighting in a clash of art styles as you battle evil pixel art enemies, and repurpose their own pixels against them.
Download and play
Two crocodile like figures one red and one purple.
Credit: Snak and Snap

Snak and Snap - Alfie James & Freddie Newman

A two player crocodile platformer, where players explore the swamp and save trapped baby crocodiles to make their way out of the swamp and defeat the evil trapping the hatchlings.
Download and play
Feeling Inspired?
See 2026's concept finalists Find out more about Young Game Designers

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