Some of the world’s most talented young games designers have arrived in Dundee for the finale of the international Dare to be Digital competition Scotland’s biggest video games festival.
The 16 teams of students will showcase their games to thousands of people at Dare ProtoPlay, the finale of the Abertay University event.
Three winning teams will be picked as the exclusive nominees for the Bafta Ones to Watch Award, a prize which can only be won by entering the contest.
Last year’s festival attracted more than 13,000 people across four days.
Professor Gregor White, head of the School of Arts, Media and Computer Games at Abertay University, said: “Dare ProtoPlay is an incredibly exciting event for families, games enthusiasts, aspiring designers and games industry professionals.
“The festival keeps getting bigger year after year and the whole team at Abertay University is incredibly proud of how the festival has developed into a major international event, attracting teams from all over the world for the chance of a Bafta Ones to Watch Award.”
As well as games created by the Dare to be Digital contestants and independent game developers, there are also a range of wider events taking place at the Dare ProtoPlay festival, which begins on Thursday in Caird Hall and City Square.
Some of the events on offer include the Cardboard Challenge, which invites people of all ages to come and build their own video game arcade from cardboard boxes, Killer Queen Arcade Field Game which is similar to ‘capture the flag’ played in the real world, and Johann Sebastian Joust which uses motion controllers linked to the speed of a piece of classical music.
All three events are completely free, as is entry to the festival itself.
Professor White added: “Inspiring young people is one very important aspect of Dare ProtoPlay, as we want children and parents to see that games are about art, creativity and design.
“The festival will show traditional digital games, but we’ve also got the Cardboard Challenge and Killer Queen Arcade Field Game which take game design ideas out into the real world.
“We’re looking forward to another busy four days as thousands of people come to Dundee to play games, have fun and even be inspired to try making their own games.”
The Bafta Ones to Watch winners will be announced at the British Academy Games Awards early in 2016.