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Abertay students and graduates have been celebrating a summer of success after winning big at two UK games festivals. 

Current and former University students have been recognised with accolades at both Gamebridge and the Glasgow Indie Games Festival. 

Student Success at Gamebridge 

Dare Academy 2025鈥檚 winning game Galactic Postal Servitude, made by River Boat Games, was named the Best Team Project at Gamebridge on 27 June. The team was also a runner-up in the&苍产蝉辫;别惫别苍迟鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;Pitching Competition. 

, made by current Abertay student team Daft Newt as part of their third-year Professional Project module, was named runner-up in the Best Team Project category. 

Newly-graduated Ollie Kidd won the 3D Character Art award for his work, &苍产蝉辫;鈥� which was made for their 4th year Honours project and displayed at the Abertay Digital Graduate Show in May. 

In the Design Excellence category, third-year student Sean Bermingham came runner up for , a fast-paced 2D platformer鈥痺here you play as a slime. 

Elsewhere, there were Honourable Mentions for two graduates from the Class of 2026 displaying their Honours projects: Abi Loughran in the 3D Environment Art category for ; and Rainers Zujevs in the Technical Excellence category for . 

, which took place at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, helps students and graduates prepare for careers in the games sector and the wider creative industries. 

Abertay Grad鈥檚 Gaelic Chip Shop Horror Goes Down a Storm at GIGF 

Meanwhile, Abertay graduate James Muirhead鈥檚 Gaelic-language chip shop comedy-horror game, Grease Trap 鈥�99, was named Best in Show at the . 

Set in a Highland fish and chip shop in 1999, and inspired by 闯补尘别蝉鈥檚 own experiences working in a chipper, it proved a huge hit with the crowd at the event. 

Grease Trap 鈥�99 takes visual inspiration from PlayStation 1 and 2 games. It is described as a 鈥渟tory-driven retro mystery horror/comedic takeaway 蝉颈尘耻濒补迟辞谤鈥�, and was strongly influenced by the game Sauna2000. 

Muirhead, who graduated from 础产别谤迟补测鈥檚 Games Design and Production course in the class of 2022, said: 

鈥泪鈥檝别 been working on the project since mid-February, and this was the first time 滨鈥檇 shown the game to the public. I really wanted that first showcase to be in person so I could see players鈥� reactions, which was a lot of fun. 滨鈥檝别 wanted to make this game for years. After graduating from Abertay, I ended up working in a fish and chip shop before landing my first job in the games industry. Working in the fish and chip shop was just an experience in my life, and I wanted to share some of the funny things I saw while working there and turn them into something fun and playable. 

Winning the Best in Show award at GIGF was completely unexpected, especially with so many amazing projects on display at the festival, but it was incredibly exciting. 滨鈥檝别 been working on the game on my own for so long, so it was really rewarding to see it go down so well with the public.

 from Friday, 17 July. 

Lecturer in Game Production, Martin Lynagh, said:

It's very rewarding to see so many of our students achieve recognition for their work from industry professionals, educators and peers at the Gamebridge festival this year, particularly given the exceptionally high standard of entries . The variety of achievements recognised is also extremely gratifying, from Ollie Kidd's success in the 3D Character Art category with his outstanding Honours project, to Sean Bermingham's personal project being named runner-up for Design Excellence, and two games that began life in our Professional Project module, Galactic Postal Servitude and Nothing's Wrong in Subsistia, placing first and second respectively in the Team Project category. We are extremely grateful to the volunteers who organise the festival and these awards are a testament to the hard work, creativity and talent of everyone involved. 

It was also fantastic to see Game Design and Production alumnus James Muirhead take Best in Show in a very strong field at the Glasgow Independent Games Festival with the demo for his darkly comic horror game, Grease Trap '99. As James's first project as an independent developer, this is a remarkable achievement, and we will be following the game's development closely.