BAFTA Young Game Designers

UPDATE (09/03/2021): Good news - the deadline for submissions to Bafta’s Young Game Designers Awards has been extended to Wednesday the 24th of March 2021! Feel free to polish your game for a little longer before you enter, then - or use the extra time to spread the word to any eligible dreamers you might know!

Calling all dreamers!

Are you between the ages of 12 and 18? Have you recently made a game in Dreams? Then you, young dreamer, are what's known in the biz as a "young game designer", and you should think about submitting one of your Dreams creations to BAFTA's Young Game Designers Awards.

Every year BAFTA puts on a competition to find the UK's best and brightest young game development talents. And this year BAFTA is allowing submissions made in Dreams for the Game Making category!

If you win, the YGD programme opens up all sorts of exciting opportunities to help support you on your journey through the world of making games. You'll be able to meet with industry professionals and top game makers. Oh and you'll also get some game goodies and a really cool trophy. Even if you don't end up winning, entering the competition is a great learning experience, and a chance to practise your skills and have them judged by a panel of games industry experts.

There are a few rules to keep in mind before you submit your entry to the competition. Let's break it down...

Who can enter?#

• You must be a UK resident

  • this includes residents of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

• Dreams is rated PEGI 12, and so to enter the competition with a submission made in Dreams, you must be aged 12-18 years old during the school year that begins on the 1st of September, 2020; or the 16th of August, 2020 in Scotland. You'll have to give your birthday upon entry so that BAFTA can verify ages and eligibility, and they will be checking creation dates. So for example, if you started your game when you were 11, it wouldn't qualify for submission. More details can be found in the Terms & Conditions!(opens in new tab)

• If you're under the age of 16, you'll need the permission of a legal parent or guardian living in the UK.

• You must not be closely related to a BAFTA member or any other person involved in running the competition.

• You can apply as an individual, or in teams of two or three. However, you may only submit one entry per person - no entering as part of more than one team, or individually in addition to entering as part of a team! All team members must be between 12 and 18 years old.

How long do I have to enter?#

Ready your imps - the deadline for all entries to the competition is 17:00 GMT on Monday the 15th of March 2021.

And that's the absolute final deadline! If you update your submitted dream after this date has passed, your submission will be disqualified. So make sure you're 100% happy with your game before entering it!

Are there any rules about what I can enter?#

Just a couple, but they're pretty important.

• BAFTA YGD will only accept games with themes suitable for families with children under the age of 12, and won't accept anything that includes content that would be rated higher than a PEGI 12. That means keeping the blood, gore and violence to a minimum (a good general rule for life, really).

• You must also avoid any instances of copyright infringement, in-game advertisements, or third party-owned brands and logos if you want your submission to count. BAFTA will be judging entries on a variety of aspects, but they mention creativity as a key requirement, so we'd strongly encourage you to come up with something original!

• We understand that stuff like sculpting or music creation may not be everyone's forte. There is so much available in the Dreamiverse, it'd be just plain mean to stop you using other creations to help you make your game. But if you are using elements created by other dreamers, please remember to list them all in your entry form when you fill it in! You can check your genealogy in-game to help with this.

How should I submit my entry?#

There are two simple parts to complete!

• First, you'll need to release your finished creation in-game as either 'Playable' or 'Public'. (Anything with private elements will be disqualified, so take care!)

• Secondly, you'll need to submit your entry by first creating a user login(opens in new tab) and then filling out and uploading this form(opens in new tab) with information about yourself and your game. Be sure to include the name of your creation, your Online ID, and an indreams.me link to your game.

I need more information!#

Alright, no need to yell! Here's a bunch of links to things you might find useful if you need more details on all things BAFTA YGD:

• A video introduction to the BAFTA Young Game Designers Awards(opens in new tab)

• Some tips on how to make a winning entry(opens in new tab)

• The YGD BAFTA FAQ(opens in new tab)

• The competition Terms & Conditions(opens in new tab)

And lastly - if you're going for it, then a huge WELL DONE and GOOD LUCK from all of us at Media Molecule! We're ridiculously proud of you. Go show 'em what you're made of.