A GAMING-MAD schoolboy has won a Bafta award after impressing judges with a computer game he designed.
Spruce Campbell, 12, from Uckfield, was awarded the gong after winning the Bafta Young Game Designers (YGD) competition.
His game Cyber PNK was judged best in the game-making award category for ten to 14-year-olds.
Spruce picked up his award at an awards ceremony held at the Bafta headquarters in central London.
He said: “Creating a game from scratch was harder than I could have imagined but when I was standing on the stage at Bafta all the hours I put into it were suddenly 100 per cent worth it.
“It’s such an honour to have my game recognised by Bafta and turned into a prototype by professional developers.
“Winning this has inspired me to carry on developing my coding skills so that I can develop increasingly complex and creative games.”
In Spruce’s game, CyberPNK, the gamer is persuaded to try new virtual reality software that takes them into Hivemind, a dangerous corporate labyrinth with alternate realities.
Once caught up in this world the game is accused of being a convicted criminal and sentenced to indefinite years in the game unless they can successfully complete the different levels to escape.
For his efforts Spruce will receive a mentor from the games industry to help him develop his skills further, tours of leading games studios, game development software and a prototype of his game will be created by a team of developers.
Louis Jackson, from Hove, won the same gong in 2015. The Blatchington Mill boy joined the ICT club and was encouraged to take part in the awards.
Bafta YGD, which began in 2010, presents awards in two main categories: The Game Concept Award, for a written idea for a new game; and the Game Making Award, for a game made using computer software.
The four young winners were chosen by a jury of industry experts.
The competition is part of a year-round programme that gives young people and educators unique insights into the games industry and access to the creative minds behind some of their favourite games.
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