IT is game on for two Priestley College students who are both up for a BAFTA award.

Joni Ashton and Declan Metcalfe are among just 10 teenagers in the country to be named a finalist in their category for the Young Game Designer prize.

The pair are in the 'game concept award' category for 15 to 18 year olds and will find out if they have won at a ceremony in London on Saturday, July 25.

Joni created the music game Jellyfish which uses touch controls and a sense of rhythm to avoid obstacles and mines.

The game has a neon colour scheme and randomly selects a song from the player's phone which changes the level each time and determines the difficulty.

"It started off with me tapping on desks," said Joni, aged 18, who is going to the BAFTA ceremony with his mum Julie. "I’m a drummer so I constantly have random rhythms in my head . I tap on desks, tap my leg and stamp my foot throughout most of the day and it kind of started out like that.

"I thought maybe I could express that in a different way rather than just banging on inanimate objects.

"The idea behind the game is something called procedural generation, similar to games like Minecraft, so it’s different each time you play.

"I wanted my game to pick a song off the player’s phone and generate the level based on the song.

"I get a buzz out of ‘rage’ games which are games that are so easy to fail but addictive.

"I remember on the last day when everyone was wrapping up their projects at Priestley College it ended up with loads of people crowded around my computer playing my game.

"It felt really good and like it had all paid off. If I were to win I can go up to a university in Scotland and be part of the team that try and bring the game to market."

Declan, aged 18, has developed the top-down tower defence game Plate Defenders where you protect a meal from attacking germs.

The former Cardinal Newman RC High School student was inspired by the illustrations of German biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel and you can even play with your own lunch by taking a picture of it.

Declan, who is bringing his mum and dad Elaine and Adrian to the ceremony, added: "You play it on the go wherever you are.

"You don’t have to be at your computer or on a console. It’s just for your phone if you’re on a bus or something.

"The idea is behind the game is it’s supposed to bring out your creativity as well. So you can take a picture of anything in your surroundings and play on that picture.

"For example, if you’re having your lunch at work you can take a picture of your sandwich – and then ‘defend’ it.

"I’m passionate about making games for phones because everyone has a mobile phone now and such simple games can be hugely popular. Games like Flappy Bird have exploded."

Declan, from Woolston, is pursuing a career as a concept artist for the games industry and is influenced by Adam Adamowicz, the late artist who was behind Fallout 3 and Skyrim.

He said: "He brought those worlds to life and he’s the artist I always look to for inspiration."

Computer game design launched at Priestley College in 2012.

Joni, whose favourite game is Halo 3, added: "I really got a sense of what it would be like to be in the industry.

"There are programmers, modellers, artists and I got the chance to familiarise myself with new technology like the Oculus Rift.

"There was one time where gaming was a load of guys hanging around in a basement.

"Now it’s something else entirely. It’s a huge industry and it’s always growing. It’s accessible to children on their mum’s iPad and it’s accessible to people like my nan who have games like Candy Crush on their phone."

DAVIF MORGAN