The winners of the UK’s premier computer games design competition, who are also nominees for a brand-new BAFTA, have been announced at a special event in Dundee.

Dare to be Digital, hailed by BAFTA as the ‘perfect pathway’ for young talent in the games industry, held its 2007 Awards Ceremony at the University of Abertay Dundee, originator of the eight-year-old contest.

The three main prizes for 2007, each worth £2,500, have been won by Phoenix Seed with Bear Go Home, for ‘Innovation and Creativity’; Carebox with ClimbActic, for ‘Use of Technology’; and Voodoo Boogy with Ragnarawk, for ‘Commercial Potential’.

All three winning teams will now go forward as the only nominees for the new BAFTA Ones to Watch award, due to be announced in October.

Phoenix Seed comprises four Chinese students and one Scottish student from Dundee, whose Bear Go Home game is a cute far-eastern styled game aimed at casual gamers. Players must help Bear find his way home, but without directly controlling him.

The Carebox team of students from Edinburgh University designed Climbactic, a game in which players combine the skills of two distinct characters to conquer sheer rock faces, deep chasms and icy summits.

Voodoo Boogy comprises five students from Abertay University, whose Ragnarawk is a fantasy role-playing game in which the player battles evil demonic forces using their only weapon - an ancient and powerful electric guitar.

In all, 12 teams of five students each have spent the last 10 weeks in host centres in Dundee, Belfast and Guildford working against the clock to develop fully-functioning prototypes of their game ideas. The teams included four Scottish teams, four English teams, two Irish teams, one Indian team and one Chinese team.

Earlier this week, all 12 teams converged on Edinburgh for a unique public showcase, Dare ProtoPlay, staged as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Edinburgh Interactive Festival. Dare ProtoPlay exposed the teams to the challenge of a public vote and the unforgiving scrutiny of a panel of junior judges all aged under 13.

On the basis of the public vote, Voodoo Boogy also won the Dare to be Digital 2007 Audience Award.