Moray Game Jam 10th Anniversary Schools Competition Winners
As a mark of celebration for the 10th year of the Moray Game Jam the organisers UHI Moray, Code Wizards and Hunted Cow Studios launched a competition for all secondary school aged young people living in Moray.
There were 2 categories for ages 12 – 14 and 15 – 18 and 16 entries were received.
The young people’s challenge was to:
Design a game character that could appear in a video game or board game.
Giving young people a chance to show off their creativity, storytelling, and design skills, the entry had to include Character Name, Character Design and a Character Bio which described who their character is, what kind of world they live in and what makes them unique.
The judging panel had a very difficult decision as all the entries were exceptional demonstrating the young peoples design skills and imagination.
Finlay MacDonald, Code Wizards and one of the judges said: “It's the first year we've run the character competition and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of pupils that got involved.
We sorted through a broad range of ideas and each entry provided its own unique take on the brief.
There could only be one winner however, and for us, the entries that stood out were the ones that took all elements into account - the design of the character, their background and how they fit into the game world, and why that character was important to them.
The winners had us imagining the games these characters would exist in, their purposes and journey.
I'd like to thank everyone that entered, and I'm looking forward to seeing even more entries next year!”
The winners were:
Category 12 – 14 Edward Ricketts - S2 at Elgin High School.
Edwards character Quantum is inspired by a fantasy book he is writing called ‘The War Lock’. In his book, The War Lock was built to cease all war and create the infinite era of bliss however the main characters discover that the War Lock was not an object but a being of ultimate energy, destroying and recreating itself infinitely.
Category 15 – 18 Megan Baker
Megan’s character is called CASTEAL who lives in a fantasy world of vast landscapes inspired by the medieval period. As one of the most powerful kinds of magic users, a blue wizard, Casteal is born with the innate ability to master the arcane and uses their hair as a ‘focus’ for their energy.
Both Edward and Megan will receive as their prize:
- A VIP Tour of Moray Game Jam on Saturday 7th March afternoon, meet the judges and the teams.
- Exclusive Moray Game Jam Merchandise
- A feature in the Moray Game Jam booklet
- A special mention and feature wall at the Gaming Playground on Sunday which is open to the public
David Patterson, Principal and Chief Executive, UHI Moray: “We at UHI Moray are delighted to be celebrating 10 years of the Moray Game Jam this year. The event attracts people for across the country and is the ideal opportunity for aspiring gamers to develop their skills and experience. We are as always grateful to all of our industry judges, supporters and sponsors as without them we would not be able to continue run this free event”
For anyone interested in finding out more about the event including applying to take part, attending the workshops and the gaming playground visit moraygamejam.com
This years Moray Game Jam takes place Friday 6 March to Sunday 8 March 2026 at UHI Moray.