Rhianna Hawkins was this year’s YGD Game Concept Award Winner, for her game Tomatos Role. 16 year-old Rhianna, from Somerset, was the first ever female winner of the BAFTA Young Game Designers award.

Alongside the award, Rhianna received exclusive signed artwork from Criterion Games, a whole host of 2014 Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment game releases, an exclusive studio visit courtesy of Jagex, three PS3 consoles and three PS Vita consoles for her school, as well as the opportunity for further development of Tomatos Role with the experts at the University of Abertay, Dundee! We caught up with Rhianna to see how she was getting on…

Let’s start from the beginning! Why did you enter BAFTA Young Game Designers?

I entered BAFTA Young Game Designers because I’ve been interested in the games industry for years. When I heard about the competition I thought that it would be a fun experience and that it would help me learn more about the industry. Also, as I’m 16, I knew that if I didn’t enter now I would lose my chance as I would be too old next year.

How did you come up with the idea for Tomatos Role?

The idea came after I began to sympathise with tomatoes, having eaten a fruit salad with the tomato not included. I thought that it might be lonely being a fruit that’s treated differently, so wanted to make something that would make people want to be more accepting of the tomato.

What was the best thing about the competition?

The best thing about the competition is that it has helped me to gain more confidence. Beforehand I was too shy to properly talk to people, but since the competition I’ve talked to so many new people that I’ve lost some of my shyness…so much so that people who have known me for years have started to notice that I’m talking more. I owe this competition a lot of thanks.

And what was the hardest thing about the competition?

The hardest thing about the competition was finishing up my entry form - I kept on adding to my idea and improving what was written. It was difficult figuring out when I was reaching the point where my idea was as good as it could be.

How did it feel to be announced the Game Concept Winner at the Awards ceremony?

It was shocking. I never thought that I would win so when my name was announced it felt as if I was dreaming. All the other nominees’ games were incredible so being the one that the jurors had chosen was an enormous honour.

What's your advice to anyone thinking of entering YGD?

Take your time and don’t always go with your first idea if you are having doubts. Tomatos Role was not the first game that I considered entering. I made a different one and kept changing my idea until I was able to create a concept that was exactly how I wanted it to be. It took longer, but it definitely paid off.

What’s next for you?

I’m starting to learn how to program Python using my Raspberry Pi. Hopefully when I’m good enough I will begin to create games based on my other ideas.

Think YOU have what it takes to be a YGD winner?