Kid’s Tabletop Game Design Challenge

I’m Jess at Dissent Games, and over the last few years I’ve helped children and young people get into game design.

I’ve run drop-in design sessions at conventions, most notably AireCon in Harrogate and Paradice in Worthing. I’ll be running a drop-in session on race games at To Boldly Game at the National Space Centre in Leicester on 31 January 2026, so please do come and find me there!

Some amazing ideas can emerge when you give people paper, pens, and a handful of components. I’ve seen kids make race games where you roll the number of dice you won in your last turn, or whether you roll multiple dice and give some to your opponent. I’ve also seen amazing prototypes from 9-year-olds and 12-year-olds.

I’ve also co-designed a game with a Year 5 class. Busy Buses was created by me and Oxford Road Community School, and was just the best experience. I’m doing another game with Year 6 at Wilson Primary School, which hopefully will be printed and available to buy in spring 2026.

The Tabletop Game Design Challenge is happening because I’ve met enough children who design good games to think that publishers need to see their ideas. Hopefully this contest will fill a gap.