SEE WINNERS HERE
LINK TO ASSETS HERE
- Winners were announced by actor and comedian Inel Tomlinson at a digital ceremony, available to watch in full on BAFTA’s YouTube channel
- This year marks the 15th anniversary of BAFTA Young Game Designers
- Winning games will be showcased at the Science Museum in London, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, and the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford as part of the Power Up experience
- BAFTA will also host a Young Game Designers Showcase at 195 Piccadilly on Sunday 29 June 2025, tickets are available to book HERE
BAFTA today announces the winners of its prestigious BAFTA Young Game Designers competition, which celebrates and encourages the next generation of game designers and developers. For 15 years running, BAFTA has worked to make the games industry (currently the largest in Europe) more accessible to emerging talent and provide opportunities for them to express their creativity through its Young Game Designers initiative. The five winners of this year’s competition, aged between 10 and 18, were announced in a special digital ceremony hosted by actor, comedian and presenter Inel Tomlinson.
BAFTA Young Game Designers is a year-round programme of public events and classroom workshops that are updated regularly by active games industry members. It culminates in the BAFTA Young Game Designers competition, which encourages young people to understand the art and craft of games – becoming creators as well as consumers. The 52 finalists of this year’s competition were competing for one of two awards – the Game Concept Award, which rewards the most original and best thought-out game idea, and the 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.
The Game Concept Award (10-14) was won by Tanisi Rawat (14) from Leeds, for her game concept The Undead. The Undead, a non-linear psychological horror, sees the player wandering alone through a melancholic, post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies in search of their missing family. Tanisi was able to expertly incorporate her own feelings and beliefs into the storyline, which won over the judging panel. Discussing her game, Tanisi said that it “explores solitude and human loneliness” but also has “a message to the player to appreciate their own reality” – “we can all find happiness in bleak situations”. By incorporating acts of kindness from NPCs (non-player characters), Tanisi looked to “highlight the prevalence of solace and human kindness in a society unbound by proper law.”
The Game Concept Award (15-18) was won by Isabelle Taylor and Emily Sun, both 17 and from Oxford. They describe their winning game concept, Mikka Bouzu, as being “made for players who struggle with the difficult transition from child to adult, and the burnout that it often brings”. The protagonist in Mikka Bouzu is a game designer who has lost her passion for art and must journey through three of her unfinished games and write endings for them to rediscover her lost creativity. The game concept is thoughtful and self-referential, challenging common tropes within games, breaking the fourth wall, and subverting player expectations. Of the project, Isabelle and Emily say that they “hope players may work through their own difficulties alongside Mikka’s struggles.”
The Game Making Award (10-14) was won by Thiago van Vlerken Rene (13) from Sheffield, who has been a competition finalist three times previously. His winning game, Sir Floofington, takes place in a procedurally generated castle filled with eerie ambient sound. The player stars as Sir Floofington, a noble knight who can use hair slams and explosive ‘floof throws’ to battle skeletons and bats in pursuit of the legendary Golden Floof – the fluffiest treasure of all. To create this fast-paced and exciting game, Thiago says he had to learn a lot of new skills. “This was the first time I created an interactive tutorial. I learned to use arrays to structure the tutorial, and developed state machines to manage its flow. I learnt how to make a procedurally generated map and created level data to make variations between the levels. The most challenging part of making this game was the boss fight – I had to learn how to make a state machine to coordinate the attack states and transitions.”
The Game Making Award (15-18) was won by Luke Rayfield (18) from Oxfordshire. His game Furniture Fu unites two skills you wouldn’t usually associate with each other – martial arts and interior decorating. Players can beat demons while mastering tasteful home design, in a game that Luke describes as “easy to learn and hard to master.” 80 placeable items bring different powers to the player, both alone and when combined in certain ways. Luke created a unique system for his game called the Spy Ring, which he describes as “allowing furniture to intercept interactions, alter the results by changing stats, or apply further effects.” He notes that “it was a very complicated feature to design and was one of the hardest parts, but ended up being highly versatile and robust.”
The BAFTA Young Game Designer ceremony was streamed on BAFTA’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, 18 June at 17:00 BST, with highlights and clips available to watch on Twitter (@BAFTAGames) and LinkedIn. Official Partners of BAFTA Young Game Designers include: Criterion Games, EE, Hasbro, PlayStationand Warner Bros. Games.
BAFTA Young Game Designers ceremony host Inel Tomlinson, said: “It’s been an absolute privilege to work with BAFTA supporting the Young Game Designers Competition for four years in a row now. This year’s winners really impressed us with their unique ideas and wide-ranging skills – touching on everything from martial arts to feelings of creative burnout. It’s refreshing to see such real, thought provoking, human ideas from these Young Game Designers and I’m truly excited to see what they’ll create in the future. I hope that those following this year’s competition get the opportunity to come down to our Young Game Designer Showcase and are also inspired to apply in the future.”
The five winners were selected from a pool of 52 exceptionally skilled finalists, by a judging panel of industry experts representing major British-based games companies, including Rocksteady Studios and Sad Owl Studios.
Dan Ayoub, SVP Digital Games, Wizards of the Coast and member of the judging panel, said: “It was an absolute honour to serve on the judging panel for the BAFTA Young Game Designers awards. Beyond the joy of working alongside brilliant developers, I was genuinely humbled by the level of talent, creativity, and ambition these young creators brought. As someone who’s been making games for many years, this experience left me deeply inspired—and incredibly optimistic about the future of our industry.”
Tim Hunter, BAFTA executive director, Learning, Inclusion, Policy & Membership, said: “BAFTA is dedicated to supporting emerging talent, and this year’s Young Game Designers are no exception. The amount of talent and creativity we’ve seen from our winning game creators and finalists has been a joy to behold, and their ideas continue to provide us with a fascinating insight into the younger generation. Since we began Young Game Designers in 2010, a lot has changed. Schools and wider society now increasingly recognise the creativity involved in game-making, as well as the opportunities games offer young people to express themselves and explore life’s big questions. We continue to work hard to champion the cultural contribution games make and to ensure the industry is accessible to everyone.. I look forward to our BAFTA Young Game Designers Showcase, and to seeing what our brilliant winners and finalists do next.”
2025 winners will be featured in the prestigious Power Up experience, alongside some of the very best games and consoles from the past five decades, including an array of previous Young Game Designers competition winners. Power Up will be showcasing this year’s winners from Thursday 19 June at the Science Museum in London, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, and for the first time, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. BAFTA will also be hosting a showcase of the winning games at 195 Piccadilly on Sunday 29 June, with tickets available to book here.
Further details on all the winners and their games will be made available here. Interviews are available on request. Further information about BAFTA Young Game Designers can be found here.
For further information, to be added to the press release distribution list or for interview requests, please contact WDM Entertainment.
Claudia Hockey / WDM Entertainment
E: [email protected]
Samantha Chong / WDM Entertainment
E: [email protected]
Sandhya Kimberley-Lachman / WDM Entertainment
E: [email protected]
BAFTA Press Office:
E: [email protected]
BAFTA Social:
Follow @BAFTA on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X
Instagram: @BAFTA
Facebook: @BAFTA
TikTok: @BAFTA
X: @BAFTA
YouTube: @BAFTA
LinkedIn: @BAFTA
Follow @YoungBAFTA on YouTube
#BAFTAYGD
Twitter (@BAFTAGames)
CONTENT
Winner headshots, game imagery and summaries HERE
Official Partners of BAFTA Young Game Designers include: Criterion Games, EE, Hasbro, PlayStation and Warner Bros. Games
Footage available for press
The full ceremony will be made available and footage can be taken once the livestream has ended at approx. 17:30 BST, Wednesday, 18 June 2025. Alternatively, please contact WDM Entertainment for clips.
PROGRAMME RESTRICTIONS
THE FOLLOWING RESTRICTIONS APPLY TO USING EXCERPTS OF THE BAFTA YOUNG GAME DESIGNERS AWARDS 2025 LIVE STREAM:
Broadcasters/news wires/online content providers must use the on-screen credit ‘BAFTA Young Game Designers Awards 2025’
No use of excerpt(s) until after transmission ends on BAFTA channels, at approx 17:30 BST, Wednesday 18 June 2025
Broadcasters/news wires/online content providers may use up to TWO (2) minutes under news access restrictions within the period ending 00:01 BST on Friday 5 July 2025
The material may be used only for news reporting purposes directly related to the ceremony as an event. Broadcasters do not have the right to use the content for special programming
No library access. No resale.
Requests for extensions to the news access window may be emailed to [email protected]
ABOUT BAFTA
BAFTA’s mission as a charity is to champion the creative and cultural importance of the screen arts across film, games and television. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of talent initiatives and learning events that include masterclasses, lectures, scholarships, bursaries and mentoring schemes in the UK and North America, BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new screen talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For more, visit www.bafta.org. BAFTA is a registered charity (no. 216726).
ABOUT THE SCIENCE MUSEUM GROUP AND POWER UP
The Science Museum Group is the world’s leading group of science museums, welcoming over five million visitors each year to six sites: the Science Museum in London; the National Railway Museum in York; the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester; the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford; Locomotion in Shildon; and the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire. Power Up is a hands-on, fully interactive gaming experience featuring the very best video games and consoles from the past five decades. From Pong to Pacman and Minecraft to Mario, there’s something for everyone, whether you’re a retro games fan, a serious gamer or just want to beat your family at Mario Kart. Power Up is open daily at the Science Museum in London and at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, and at weekends and during school holidays at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester.
ABOUT INEL TOMLINSON
Multi-award-nominated actor, gamer and comedian, Inel Tomlinson, exudes the type of magnetic charisma and talent that instantly demands your attention. Well known for his brand character content creation highlights include voicing the award-winning Bulldog Cosmetics campaign and hosting the Animal Crossing Olympics with Nintendo. Gaming partnerships include Back4Blood, Xbox, PlayStation and Sega.
A hugely experienced actor and improvisor, he is a main cast member in the smash hit show Horrible Histories, which collaborated with the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 2023.
On wider credits, Inel has featured in numerous series including: The Joy of Missing Out (C4), Diddy TV (CBBC), All Over the Place (CBBC), Bull (UKTV/Gold) as well as in several video games. In 2022 he appeared in his first feature film Christmas on Mistletoe Farm for Netflix.
As a stand up comedian Inel regularly performs at live comedy shows all over the country where his mixture of comedic timing, nostalgia and an eye for the ridiculous keep the audience in stitches from start to finish. He is also founder of smash hit live format Kinetic Comedy; a lively multicultural event that showcases the best up and coming comedy acts interspersed with games, competitions and music.
Inel also hosts for Comic Con, BAFTA, Netflix and is the voice of Comedy Central UK.
In 2024, Inel returned as principle cast for Pickle Storm (CBBC) and Horrible Histories (CBBC) and hosted the BAFTA Young Game Designers ceremony.
In 2025, Inel returns as a principal cast member in the spin-off series Horrible Science (CBBC).
