Young Game Designer reaches BAFTA Final

Third Year student Marcus has been selected as a finalist in the 10-14 year old Game Makers category of the BAFTA Young Game Designer Awards, one of the UK’s most prestigious competitions for aspiring game creators.

Marcus earned his place in the final with Con-Fiend, a dungeon adventure game that he designed and developed independently.

“I’ve always loved coding, even when I was in primary school,” Marcus explained. “Back then I used Scratch because I didn’t know any text-based languages. In Year 7, we started using Ozaria in lessons, which really kickstarted my passion for coding.

“I’m not really a competitive gamer, I’ve always preferred platformers and open-world games. I also love looking into glitches and bugs in older games because they show the limitations developers had to overcome when creating them.

“My favourite part of making games is overcoming glitches and issues that ruin the fun of the game. It often means restructuring code and exploring different ways of solving a problem. It also gives me the chance to research new techniques, making my games more robust and helping me learn skills for future projects.”

Marcus began work on Con-Fiend in October 2025 as a project during Computer Science lessons as part of the game development unit that students complete each year. Long after the original deadline had passed, he continued developing the game in his spare time.

“It started as a school project, but it became something I genuinely wanted to keep working on. I spent much of my holidays developing it, often around six hours a day.”

In the game, players take on the role of a green knight trapped in a dungeon by the Blue Knight Kingdom and must complete challenges to escape room by room.

Marcus entered the BAFTA competition after encouragement from Head of Computing, Mr Page, during Coding Club.

“I remember Mr Page suggesting I enter the BAFTA competition. There was quite a bit of admin involved, so I put it off at first, but eventually I decided to go for it. I’m very glad I did!

“Looking at that email from BAFTA, I was incredibly excited because I honestly didn’t think I’d get past the first round of judging. Becoming a finalist has given me the chance to meet so many talented people. I’ve played some of the other finalists’ games and they’re incredibly professional and original. It’s been great seeing how different creators approach game design.”

With exams now behind him, Marcus is already planning the next stage of development and is looking forward to attending the Young BAFTA Showcase Weekend at the end of the month.

“I want to keep improving Con-Fiend by adding new weapons, mechanics and levels. Right now, I want to focus on making this game the best it can be.”

Mr Page said, “Con-Fiend features a range of engaging gameplay mechanics, including player progression, character levelling, and increasingly challenging stages. The game demonstrates a high level of polish and attention to detail, and Marcus should be extremely proud of what he has achieved. We are incredibly proud of Marcus and the many students who have shown such independence, dedication, and resilience through their work in coding club and at home. Their willingness to challenge themselves and continue developing their skills year after year is remarkable.

“Since 2019, there have been only two years in which one of our students has not reached the BAFTA Young Game Designers finals or, on a number of occasions, gone on to win the Game Making Award. Given that only 20 students are selected each year across the two age categories, with just 10 finalists in each category, this represents an outstanding achievement and is something the whole school community can be proud of.”

Congratulations to Marcus.

You can download and play Marcus’s game Con-Fiend here.