Indian-origin student in Glasgow shortlisted for BAFTA Young Game Designers Award
Being Indian myself, I felt I had the cultural understanding to tell the story, the student said
An Indian student studying at a UK university has been shortlisted for a BAFTA Young Game Designers Award for a game exploring the life of a sweatshop worker in India.
D'Arcy Dhanda, a first-year student at the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, has been nominated in the 15-18 years’ category for his creation, Maya.
The game follows the story of a young widow working long hours in a garment factory while raising a child and struggling with poverty. The game uses a series of mini-scenes depicting both factory work and home life to highlight the pressures faced by the main character.
Professor Martin Halvey, Head of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Strathclyde, said, "D'Arcy's nomination reflects both his creativity and ability to use game design to tell meaningful stories. The game's mechanics imitate real-life working conditions and give players a glimpse into Maya's reality. I wanted to create something people could feel emotionally connected to," D'Arcy said.
"You spend long days at a sewing machine and even the repetitive actions are designed to reflect the physical strain of that kind of work. People do not always think about those realities. I chose to set the game in India because I am Indian myself and I felt I had the cultural understanding to tell the story," he said.
D'Arcy hopes to continue developing the project and added, "I started working on Maya when I was in S6 and I think it still needs more time. Six months of development is not very long in game design.”
"I would like to become a full-time software engineer one day... Being part of the BAFTA competition can help me get a foot in the door of what is a very competitive industry," he said.
The winner's ceremony will be streamed on BAFTA's YouTube channel on Thursday, June 18.
