At the 15th annual BAFTA Young Game Designers competition, three Oxfordshire talents—Isabelle Taylor (17), Emily Sun (17) and Luke Rayfield (18)— seized big wins, snagging top awards for their boundary-pushing creations. Their triumphs underscore how the next generation isn’t just playing games—they’re rewriting the rules of play.
A Digital Ceremony Packed with Energy
Hosted by comedian-gamer Inel Tomlinson, this year’s virtual awards streamed live on BAFTA’s YouTube channel on June 18, 2025 at 17:00 BST. Fans across Twitter and X tuned in for clips of gravity-bending prototypes, procedurally generated boss fights, and furniture-fu martial arts—complete with witty commentary and surprise guest shout-outs. For the first time, highlights also graced the Science Museum’s “Power Up” exhibition, giving museum-goers a front-row seat to raw, youthful creativity.
Meet the Oxfordshire Winners
Isabelle Taylor & Emily Sun: Mikka Bouzu (Game Concept Award, 15–18)
- Concept: A meta-narrative platformer where a burnt-out game designer must finish three unfinished builds to rekindle her passion.
- Why It Slaps: It breaks the fourth wall, lampooning tropes while diving into real-world feelings of creative burnout—think Celeste meets Untitled Goose Game with an existential twist.
- Dev Anecdote: Isabelle sketched level layouts on late-night study breaks in the Oxfordshire library, while Emily hand-coded pixel shaders in her bedroom, often fueled by chamomile tea.
- In Their Words: “We hope players may work through their own difficulties alongside Mikka’s struggles,” the duo said.
Luke Rayfield: Furniture Fu (Game Making Award, 15–18)
- Prototype: A DIY handheld marvel where martial arts meet interior decorating—beat demons by unleashing exploding sofas and kung-fu coffee tables.
- Tech Twist: Luke’s “Spy Ring” system lets furniture pieces intercept and remix player inputs, creating emergent combos (ever seen a bookshelf do a roundhouse kick?).
- Solder Burn Moment: “I nearly fried my thumb wiring the LED feedback—totally worth it when that sofa piledrove the final boss,” Luke joked.
Judging Panel & Industry Buzz
The five winners were cherry-picked from 52 finalists by a star-studded panel—including Dan Ayoub from Wizards of the Coast, and veterans from Rocksteady Studios and Sad Owl Studios. Ayoub raved, “I was genuinely humbled by the talent, creativity, and ambition these young creators brought. It left me incredibly optimistic about our industry’s future.”
BAFTA exec Tim Hunter noted that schools and society now recognize “the creativity involved in game-making”—a shift from passive play to active creation, opening doors for voices like Isabelle’s, Emily’s and Luke’s.
Beyond the Awards: What’s Next?
- Showcase Tour: Mikka Bouzu and Furniture Fu will feature in the Science Museum’s Power Up experience (London, Manchester, Bradford) through the summer.
- Hands-On Showcase: Roll through 195 Piccadilly on June 29 for live demos and Q&As with the winners—tickets still available on the BAFTA events page.
- Mentorships: Each Oxfordshire trio earns studio tours and one-on-one mentoring with Criterion Games, PlayStation and Warner Bros. Games, setting them up to conquer tomorrow’s AAA scene.
Why Gamers Should Get Hyped
When teens harness code and quirk, magic happens—gravity-warping, furniture-flinging magic. Online raves on X (#BAFTAYGD) and Reddit threads in r/gamedev are already sparking fan-art contests for Mikka Bouzu’s unfinished levels and Furniture Fu mods that swap in sofa-mounted laser beams. It’s proof that grassroots dev isn’t just a spark—it’s a wildfire torching through traditional studio gates.
Will you join the next generation of creators? Gear up for the 2026 BAFTA Young Game Designers competition—start sketching, soldering, and dreaming. Who knows? We might be writing about your breakout hit next year.