For the first time, our Let’s Play! weekend kicked off the festival, with two days of gameplay and activities for all the family on 12–13 February. Highlights included the chance to experience games on our Pictureville cinema screen, play the latest board and card games with friends, and beta-test new projects from Northern developers, all under one roof!
12–13 FEBRUARY
10.00–16.30 Northern Games Showcase
10.00–16.30 Flashback Arcade
10.00–16.30 Discover Esports! with Burnley FC and Bu
10.00–16.30 Big Screen Gaming
10.00–16.30 Exploring Analogue
10.00–16.30 Making Bradford 2025: The Game
10.00–16.30 The Animal Crossing Diaries on Tour
10.00–16.30 Solidaritech
10.00–16.30 Gaming the Mind
10.30 Kids’ Club film screening: Sonic the Hedgehog (PG)
On Wednesday 16 February, our unique Yorkshire Games Festival Schools’ Day offered an opportunity for KS2–3 students to turbo-charge their core skills in coding, videogame development and problem solving, with an eye on future careers.
Game Talks is our unique programme of talks, master classes and events featuring high-profile industry guests. Improve your knowledge and employability; be inspired and network. Game Talks is for industry professionals, recent graduates and those studying games-related subjects.
Thursday 17 February
09.30–16.45 Game Talks: Thursday
- David Sheppard, Ubisoft Leamington: The role of UX in gaming
- Dr James Cook, University of Edinburgh; Adam J. Sporka, composer; Jan Valta, composer: Adaptive music in open-world games
- Trine Laier, Those Eyes: Hush-hush! How to design ‘authentic’ games
- David Fenn, Acid Nerve: Death’s Door: Making a big game with a small team
- Mat Murray, XR Games: How to raise investment funding for your games studio
- Will Doyle, Supermassive Games: The Dark Pictures Anthology: Crafting interactive horror stories
11.00–18.00 Team17 pop-up usability lab
12.10–13.40 Careers Lounge
Friday 18 February
09.30–16.45 Game Talks: Friday
- Sean Gorman, Rocksteady: Level design: Function and form
- Joshua Garrity, Team17: Top tips for the perfect game pitch
- Bex Betton, Women in Games Ambassador: Should I engage in work experience and unpaid opportunities in the games industry?
- Nele Steenput, nDreams: Best practices in character art for VR
- James Dobrowski, Sharkmob London: Production 101: A key to making great games is playing great games!
- Classified speaker: Classified talk topic
11.00–18.00 Team17 pop-up usability lab
12.10–13.40 Careers Lounge
