Category: Games

BAFTA Young games designer competition

Making Games: BAFTA Young Games Designer competition 2026

Education Scotland is keen to support as many children and young people participate in playing and making games as possible.

We are excited to work with Into Film and West College Scotland to deliver ideas, resources and live lessons to help children and young people participate in the BAFTA Young Games Designer (YGD) competition. 

YGD is “a chance for 10–18-year-olds to design, develop and present new game ideas”. 

The competition is now open and the closing date for entries is 12th March 2026. 

Children and young people will need an account on BAFTA to enter the competition – educators should check their employers’ rules on children and young people creating and accessing accounts. Educators can create an account to oversee and create accounts for children – *Check the T&Cs.

There are two categories: Game Concept and Game Making (use this link to visit the YGD site)

Game Concept Award

Entrants must submit an original game idea created by themselves or with a team of up to two other people.

Entries will be judged on:

  • gameplay design
  • creativity
  • suitability for chosen games platform

There is an award for:

  • 10 to 14 year olds
  • 15 to 18 year olds

Game Making Award

Entrants must submit an original game created by themselves or with a team of up to two other people.

Entries will be judged on:

  • gameplay design
  • creativity
  • suitability for your chosen games platform

There is an award for:

  • 10 to 14 year olds
  • 15 to 18 year olds

*Check the T&Cs to see what software you can use to build your game.

Support for YGD Game Concept Award

Into Film will run two Live Lessons in January and February for Scottish educators. These are free to join and will explain the rules of YGD, what makes a ‘good game concept’ and an overview of their games resources. 

You can access Into Film’s FREE games resources using this link: https://www.intofilm.org/theme/131/about

YouTube player

Support for YGD Game Making Award

Dr Amanda Ford, West College Scotland, will present recorded videos and guidance for young people and educators on developing their own games. This will support computing and games development classes to link their learning to YGD.

You can access free game making platforms, such as:

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade

GameMaker | Make 2D Games With The Free Engine

*Remember to check with your local authority data security team/officer before registering any learners as users.

YouTube player

Examples of learning from previous games live lessons

A primary teacher from Rowantree Primary School in Dundee shared this with us:

“My class recently attended the above session and following on from your email we were keen to share our learning. They really engaged well with the session and loved making game ideas. We used their ideas later the same day to create a short piece of writing talking about their gaming ideas. Some really exciting and dark stories emerged!

I liked the simple materials and found it fun myself. I’d consider using the materials again.”

A primary teacher from Glenlee Primary School, South Lanarkshire shared this:

A primary teacher from North Queensferry Primary, Fife, shared this:

“My P5/6/7 class loved getting involved in the Games Jam last term. I have attached of what they created. They were all very engaged an this is probably the least terrifying one!

On the back of this work, the class have chosen that their topic for this term be about ‘Video Games’.”

A link to a pdf of the game design: Plague Game

festival of play 2025 community post by Blackness Primary in Dundee

Digital Schoolhouse: Festival of Play 2025 by Blackness Primary, Dundee City

We were lucky that a parent of a child in our class works with Digital School House and they let us know about the event. There were spaces available and the children were really enthusiastic and keen to go. It would be great to let more schools know about the event – I am sure they would find it very worthwhile.

 

This event was especially engaging as the children worked in their co-operative learning groups, designing games and presentations for Ninja Kiwi (a local games developer). They created their own amazing and unique games that they then pitched Ninja Kiwi staff like in Dragon’s Den. This allowed them to pull together an array of skills and during this time we looked into Dundee and its gaming history.

 

On the day, children and young people were excited to arrive at the University where they received tote bags on arrivals with some ‘merch’. They really enjoyed the session with Olive, about her game Private Joke, and enjoyed how much creativity and fun it involved. Lunches were a big hit as well, and the gaming exhibit at the end where they got to play games and try things out. They were big fans of the design a character, with Ninja Kiwi, and after this I heard two boys discussing coming to Abertay to study and design a game together. 

“The monkey bit was really fun and creative as you could do anything; the exhibit at the games were really fun. I liked the whole day as it was really interactive and wasn’t just sitting around for like 25 minutes.” Hamish M, 10 years old.

“I really liked it because I liked the workshops and the VR headset. My The part I really liked was playing on the Nintendo Switch; the commentating workshop was very interesting because I liked the instructor because he told us all sorts of information.” Akshara, 10 years old. 

 

As a teacher, I really liked the range of speakers and activities for the children to engage with. I thought the sessions were a good length and covered a lot of different aspects of learning. The games were a good opportunity to play. My favourite was the Private Joke session as it was the most transferable and the games commentary workshop was also really engaging. 

 

We had a great time and loved being a part of the day, especially it being the first in Scotland. The children felt really inspired afterwards and comments about not knowing how many skills were needed in gaming, some children who are really creative and love drawing realising there were career opportunities, children who love playing games, children who love maths and numbers and then the ones who love reading, they all came away talking about how what they liked learning about and how there were pathways in gaming and computing industries.

Find out more about our school: Welcome to Blackness Primary School Website

 

scottish esports schools and colleges survey

Scottish Schools and Colleges Esports Competitions – Expression of Interest

Scottish Esports are the national body for gaming and esports in Scotland and are conducting a survey to assess the viability of a national esports competitions for Scotland’s schools and colleges.

This initiative aims to provide a structured competitive framework that supports Curriculum for Excellence, develops learners’ meta-skills, enhances digital skills, and aligns with national qualifications including the NPA Esports and HNC Esports.

Provide your feedback using this link: Scottish Esports Schools and Colleges Competition survey

For more information or queries, contact: info@scotesports.org

north lanarkshire council logo

Minecraft Build Battle in North Lanarkshire Council

The Digital School Team at North Lanarkshire Council have shared this summary of their recent work using Minecraft with primary school learners. To find out more get in touch with Alan Cooper Curriculum Manager CooperAl@northlan.gov.uk and Lauren McIntyre Digital Education Support Officer McIntyreLa@northlan.gov.uk at North Lanarkshire Council 

All resources and support are available on our Padlet below 

North Lanarkshire Minecraft Build Battles 

 Roadmap of Journey 

NL Minecraft Build Battle Summary 

In Session 2024/25 North Lanarkshire’s Minecraft Build Battle was launched! Inspired by the rapid rise of esports across Scottish education, the final was the culmination of months of competitive gaming.  

From February 2025, over 1000 pupils took part in live online lessons and in-class challenges led by North Lanarkshire’s Digital School Team. Pupils from 36 schools worked together in teams of four within their class to develop their collaboration and Minecraft skills. They completed builds each week based on prompts with increasing difficulty and relevant success criteria. Following an in-class build battle, teachers chose a winning team to represent their school in one of the live online semi-finals against five other teams. The top-performing six teams were then invited to showcase their creativity and skills at the inaugural in-person live build battle final! 

The 24 pupils from six teams were challenged to create a fantastic castle for the famous Minecraft character, Steve, within 45 minutes.  

 

an image explaining a minecraft building activity

After lengthy discussion and deliberation, judges from North Lanarkshire Council and the eSports and Gaming industries decided the winners – ‘The Glowstone Gals’ from Thornlie Primary, Wishaw. 

 

Build Battles by Number 

  • 37 schools (35 Primary & 2 ASN Primary) 
  • 995 Pupils 
  • 30 live lessons 
  • 36 in class build battles 
  • 6 live semi-final build battles (144 pupils) 
  • 1 live grand final (6 schools & 23 Pupils) 
  • Clusters (20 clusters involved) 
a picture of a castle built in minecraft by children

 

 

Feedback by pupils and teachers include: 

North Lanarkshire Council: Minecraft Battle Builds Live Final Video Long 

Teacher 

‘It was incredibly well organised and launched effectively, the CPD sessions were great for someone with zero experience of Minecraft. the build prompts were really good and I found FULL class engagement. I have a child in my class (P7) working at early level in all curricular areas and this is one thing they could join in with peers – very inclusive.’ 

Pupils 

‘Our class really enjoyed it because we helped each other and our friendships grew’. 

‘I really enjoyed Minecraft Education. It really helped to develop teamwork skills and creativity. It was mega fun and I really hope our teacher does this with the next P7s’. 

‘The prompts were very creative because each week they were different but gave us a chance to add our own touches. I hadn’t played Minecraft in a while but not I’m constantly playing Minecraft Education with my friends!’ 

Plans are already underway for a Minecraft MAYhem event in this session. A focus on eSports in Primary and Secondary schools will also be a target for the NL Digital School. 

 

YouTube player

Game Maker

Game Maker

go to Making Games page

GameMaker is a development tool for making 2D games, used by indie developers, professional studios, and educators worldwide. Users can create games for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, HTML5, Xbox, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.

Remember to check with your local authority data security team/officer before registering any learners as users.

Explore tutorials using this link – Learn How To Develop Games 

Find out more about the Game Maker Education license with this link – Teaching Using Game Design 

restore by glitchers - land use game

Restore by Glitchers – a game about land use

Restore by GLITCHERS

 

Restore is part of an academic research project called RestoreID (HORIZON-CL6-2023-BIODIV-01-17). This research project investigates the relationship between nature restoration, biodiversity, and disease prevention. The restore game is led by Dr Brad Duthie and Prof Nils Bunnefeld at the University of Stirling.

The game will take between 5-20 minutes to play, depending on the level that you select. Only your in-game decisions will be recorded for research purposes, and no personal identifiable data will be recorded.

No download or signup required — Restore is compatible with modern browsers like Chrome, Safari and can be played on desktop or mobile. Just visit the itch page to start playing.

Play the game by using this link – Restore by GLITCHERS

playing games

Playing games

go to the Games in Education page

This section aims to support educators to provide opportunities to play games in education. Games are valuable, meaningful and engaging to people of all ages, including children and young people. Play is a valuable and recognised aspect of learning and child development.

Below are links to information, ideas and resources to help educators implement playing games in their setting.

festival of play 2025 community post by Blackness Primary in Dundee
Digital Schoolhouse: Festival of Play 2025 by Blackness Primary, Dundee City

We were lucky that a parent of a child in our class works with Digital School House and they let us know about the event. There were spaces available and the children were really enthusiastic and keen to go. It would be great to let more schools know about the… Read more

scottish esports schools and colleges survey
Scottish Schools and Colleges Esports Competitions – Expression of Interest

Scottish Esports are the national body for gaming and esports in Scotland and are conducting a survey to assess the viability of a national esports competitions for Scotland’s schools and colleges. This initiative aims to provide a structured competitive framework that supports Curriculum for Excellence, develops learners’ meta-skills, enhances digital… Read more

Island Saver from NatWest

Island Saver is a free-to-play game from NatWest. It is designed to develop children and young people’s understanding of finance, including saving and tax. It can be played on consoles or iPad. Find out more about the game here: Island Saver Wiki  Read more

north lanarkshire council logo
Minecraft Build Battle in North Lanarkshire Council

The Digital School Team at North Lanarkshire Council have shared this summary of their recent work using Minecraft with primary school learners. To find out more get in touch with Alan Cooper Curriculum Manager CooperAl@northlan.gov.uk and Lauren McIntyre Digital Education Support Officer McIntyreLa@northlan.gov.uk at North Lanarkshire Council  All resources and… Read more

restore by glitchers - land use game
Restore by Glitchers – a game about land use

Restore by GLITCHERS   Restore is part of an academic research project called RestoreID (HORIZON-CL6-2023-BIODIV-01-17). This research project investigates the relationship between nature restoration, biodiversity, and disease prevention. The restore game is led by Dr Brad Duthie and Prof Nils Bunnefeld at the University of Stirling. The game will take… Read more

Tinderbox games club
Tinderbox Games Collective

Tinderbox is a collective of young people, musicians, artists and youth workers in Scotland. Their work uses music and the arts to bring people together and strengthen communities, providing exciting opportunities that support young people to build their confidence, skills, self-esteem, and professional experience.  Find out more about Tinderbox here… Read more

Tinderbox games club

Tinderbox Games Collective

Tinderbox is a collective of young people, musicians, artists and youth workers in Scotland. Their work uses music and the arts to bring people together and strengthen communities, providing exciting opportunities that support young people to build their confidence, skills, self-esteem, and professional experience. 

Find out more about Tinderbox here – tinderboxcollective.org

Tinderbox Games Clubs currently run in Edinburgh for young people aged 10-18.

At the Games Clubs people get together to play, research and make games, as well as design their own artwork, audio & code needed for them. Tinderbox use different forms of technology to make them, but they also use traditional methods such as hand-drawn art, board game making, clay-sculpting, crafting with recycled objects, and more.

Find out more using this link – Tinderbox Games Clubs

 

These are some games to try to get started:

You can play all the games published by Tinderbox using this link – Tinderbox Lab