'Mouse Trapped' puts Northampton schoolboys in the running for national game design award

Joe Anderson and Michael Bell, both 17, will attend a special awards ceremony in London on July 17.

The pair, who both go to Northampton School for Boys, are vying for the Game Making Award for those who have developed their coding skills and have submitted a prototype game made using freely available software.

The finalists worked on their entries in a variety of ways, including individually, within a team at school or their coding club, or even at home with their siblings.

Joe, from Wellingborough, and Michael, from Northampton, have been chosen as finalists in the Game Making category for their entry, Mouse Trapped.

The sixth formers explained that the game is about a mouse who faces a series of difficult and deadly mazes put in its way by a negligent but not malicious scientist.

The Bafta Young Game Designers (YGD) competition gives young people the chance to design and create their own game.

The annual initiative, which began in 2010, was designed to demonstrate the creativity that goes into game design, and to give young people, and their teachers, a clearer understanding of the many rewarding careers to be had within the industry.

Previous entrants have gone on to attract commercial interest, as well as a nomination at the British Academy Games Awards, Bafta’s flagship ceremony for the games industry.

The winners of both strands, in 10-14 and 15-18 age ranges, will receive a host of prizes, including: games, hardware, software licenses, tours of games studios and a mentor from the games industry to help them develop their skills further.

A prototype of their game will also be created by a team of developers.