UCLan wins prestigious international games design competition

Dare to be Digital win brings chance of BAFTA

Students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) have been crowned joint winners of a games design competition and will now compete for an exclusive BAFTA award.

Dan Scholes, a second year student on the BA (Hons) Games Design course, together with recent graduates from the BSc (Hons) Computer Games Development Joe Hurst, Mat Stevenson and Stuart Brown, teamed up with Mallath Abbas from Liverpool Screen School to become one of three winning teams in the Dare to be Digital competition. 

The 'Evolved Ape' team received £2,500 and will go up against two other winners; Digital Knights and Swallowtails, to compete for the exclusive 'Ones to Watch' BAFTA award next year.

The students beat off applications from over 70 universities worldwide to be one of 15 teams to compete in Dare to be Digital 2011.

At the end of the competition the prototypes were displayed at talent showcasing event, Dare ProtoPlay, where this year a record breaking 9,000 members of the general public and industry experts played and voted for the games.

The 'Evolved Ape' team won with the game entitled Dreamweaver.  They wanted to create a game that is targeted at a young age group but is accessible to older gamers too.

Joe Hurst, who recently graduated from the BSc (Hons) Computer Games Development, said: "We came up with an idea where the player leads his or her way through two different game types with their ape like companion. One side is a dreamy state where the player will solve puzzles with their cuddly friend and then hit a trigger point in the game where a nightmare sets in and the ape will turn evil and start to chase them."

Current student Mat Stevenson added: "Dare was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget, it was like a jump start into the games industry. I was able to meet a lot of very talented people and got some very useful advice. I wouldn't have had the ability to win without my experience at UCLan."

Richard Leinfellner, awards judge and Chief Executive of Babel Media, said: "Once again the quality of entries was very high – and this year the diversity of devices used by the teams was striking. Dare to be Digital is really starting to reflect the wide range of audiences that today’s developers can reach through games."

It is the first year that the UCLan has entered the competition and BA (Hons) Games Design tutor Rhoda Daly said it was an amazing achievement.

"I was immensely proud of the participants representing UCLan and Liverpool Screen School," she explained. "The team ‑ Dan, Joe, Stuart, Mal and Mat approached the competition with a very professional and positive attitude and worked exceptionally well together. The resulting game 'Dreamweaver' was a very polished, innovative and exciting game to play and received a great reaction from the audiences at the Dare ProtoPlay event." 

"Dreamweaver showcased the knowledge and experience these students have gained here in UCLan and from the mentors at Dare to be Digital.   It was a wonderful experience and we hope that this will be the beginnings of future successful participation in the Dare to be Digital event and collaborations between the Games Design and Games Development courses."

Laurent Noel, Course Leader Software Engineering, added: "This achievement reflects the dedication and hard work put in by the entire team and puts them in a great position for their future careers.  The team members felt very well prepared from their experience on their UCLan courses and the games industry representatives at the competition were particularly impressed with the technical competence of the team.

“Several second year students are already gearing up for next year's event, and this year's winning students will be making a presentation to the current students to help them prepare. UCLan will be the team to beat!"

Dr Louis Natanson, who leads Computer Games Education at Abertay University, said: "Dare to be Digital is a life-changing opportunity for aspiring young computer game developers."

“The standard of games gets better and better every year, and it’s been a real joy to see thousands of people enjoy playing the games in Dundee this weekend.

He added: "To have to build a brand new game in just nine weeks is a massive challenge, and every single competitor deserves to be immensely proud of what they have achieved.

"They arrived at Abertay University nine short weeks ago as promising students – they leave us as very promising young professionals. We will watch their careers with great interest."

 Many competitors go on to receive job offers from world-leading companies.  For more information, please visit http://www.daretobedigital.com