With just over a week away until the 2016 YGD ceremony on 23 July, we spoke to last year's 15-18 Game Concept winner Jack Reynolds to talk about life since his win.
With just over a week away until the 2016 YGD ceremony on 23 July, we spoke to last year's 15-18 Game Concept winner Jack Reynolds to talk about life since his win.
What are you studying now?
I'm in my penultimate year of school studying Maths, Physics, Computer Science and Drama. Studying Drama has helped me to become more creative and in Computer Science I've improved my coding skills as well as learning the ins and outs of how computers work.
What did winning BAFTA YGD mean to you?
It showed me that I actually have a talent for something I'm very passionate about. It gave me the confidence and encouragement I needed to continue making games.
The thing I love most about Game Design is that it rarely gets repetitive; I can work on a project for hours without it getting dull. It also gives me an opportunity to express myself and try to create something that hasn't been done before.
Do you have any advice for our young games creators?
Always think outside the box and take pride in your work; don't stop working on a project unless you're 100% happy with the result. Read a lot of game reviews etc. to see what makes some games good and others bad, it also sometimes helps for inspiration.
Start with a simple idea or game mechanic and just keep building on it. Think about the objective or mechanics of other games then try to think of how you would make a game that's the complete opposite of that.
What do you think makes a good game?
Something you can play for hours and hours without getting bored: it needs to be something you couldn't just replace with any other game. A good plot often helps too though sometimes the simpler the better.
I've recently finished playing Superhot and have started playing Hitman: Blood Money, as well as continuing to play Spelunky. I'm looking forward to the new Dishonored game too.
