VirtX Game Lab · Summer 2026

Your child builds their own playable game this August

Live online summer camp for ages 8 to 17, taught by mentors. 12 live sessions, 3 to 28 August. Just 10 places.

£105 per module · £390 for all four · payment plans available

Enrolment closes Friday 24 July.

A cinematic still from a VirtX studio production: a young character in a lantern-lit hall

Mali © VirtX Studio

ICO registered NSPCC-certified tutors Payments secured by Stripe By the creators of StayDry

Why Game Lab

Raise creators, not consumers

The summer holidays are a brilliant window to spark something lasting. At Game Lab, kids don't just learn to code: they design, build and ship a playable game of their own.

Along the way they pick up the quiet skills that compound for life: creative confidence, structured problem solving, and the entrepreneurial instinct to make things rather than just consume them.

10spots, ages 8 to 17
12live online sessions, Aug 3 to 28
4one-week modules with industry mentors
1playable game to show for it

What they leave with

More than a certificate

A game they made

A finished, playable game built with the same tools professionals use. Something real to show friends, family and one day, a portfolio.

Creative confidence

From blank page to working world. They learn that big projects are just small steps in a row, and that their ideas are worth building.

A maker's mindset

Problem solving, iteration and resilience. The habits that shape job creators rather than job seekers.

Your mentors

Taught by people who ship games

Nnanna Kama teaching on stage for Unity at the Game Developers Conference

Nnanna Kama

Head Game Master · VirtX GameLab

From a physics lesson to the BAFTA red carpet. Nnanna's journey began the moment he realised the same rules that explain our world can be used to build entirely new ones. That spark carried him through almost two decades at studios like Sony, Sumo Digital and Unity, earned his work a BAFTA nomination, and put him on stage at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, teaching developers from around the world on behalf of Unity.

Now, through VirtX, he's giving back to the craft that shaped him: empowering the next generation of creators.

Fejiro Itimi-Imonikhe

Fejiro Itimi-Imonikhe

World Builder · Art & Animation Mentor

The mentor your child will want to impress. An animator with experience across every stage of the production pipeline, Fejiro brings stylised characters, rich environments and cinematography to life, and shows campers how artistic vision and technical precision work hand in hand.

Unity · Reallusion · Blender

Uchenna Okiya

Uchenna Okiya

Engine Master · Certified Unreal Instructor

With over a decade in animation and titles of his own published on the app stores, Uchenna is a certified Unreal instructor and Unity pro developer who blends traditional craft with cutting-edge tools. He's the one who makes sure no young builder ever stays stuck.

Unity · Unreal · Blender · Published developer

The future belongs to the creators.

Expert-led, deliberately small

£105 per module

£390 for all modules

Campers work in small groups by age band: 8 to 10, 11 to 13 and 14 to 17, so every child is challenged at the right level. Everyone joins the same live sessions, then splits into small age-band groups with a mentor for hands-on guidance.

Week 1

Foundations

How games work. Build a character you can control.

Week 2

Design & levels

What makes play fun. Design and build your own level.

Week 3

Mechanics & logic

Scoring, rules and simple code. Get your game working.

Week 4

Polish & ship

Art, sound and playtesting. Finish, publish and showcase.

Campers learn how games are built from the ground up: characters, controls and the game loop. Working in Unity, they bring a character to life that they can move and control themselves, the foundation every later module builds on.

Campers explore what actually makes a game fun to play, from pacing to challenge and reward. They design and build their own playable level, applying those principles to a space entirely of their own creation.

Campers add scoring, rules and simple code so their game truly behaves like a game, with feedback, win conditions and logic that responds to the player. By the end of the week, last week's level is a working prototype: playable, scorable and winnable.

Campers add art and sound, playtest with mentors and the rest of the cohort, then finish and publish their game to itch.io, so it is playable in a browser and easy to share with friends and family.

The schedule

12live online sessions, 3 to 28 August
Mon, Wed, Frisessions each week
16:00UK time, each session 2 hours
10campers max, with 3 mentors

All sessions recorded, so a missed session is never lost. Replays are emailed privately to registered parents.

Want it all in one document? Get the free brochure.

Ready to book?

Choose your modules and pay securely with Stripe. Your place is confirmed instantly and we email you everything you need before the first session. Prefer to talk to us first? Join a free parents' Q&A call, no charge and no obligation.

Enrolment closes Friday 24 July.

Week 1

Foundations

£105 Book now
Week 2

Design & levels

£105 Book now
Week 3

Mechanics & logic

£105 Book now
Week 4

Polish & ship

£105 Book now
All four modules

The complete camp

£390 Book now

Full refund if it is not right for your child after the first session. See our guarantee below.

Our promise

If Game Lab is not right for your child after the first session, tell us and we refund you in full. No forms, no fuss.

How enrollment works

Three simple steps

1

Book your place

Pay securely with Stripe in the section above. Your place is confirmed instantly.

Payments secured by stripe
2

Tell us about your camper

We email you a short registration form: your child's first name, age band and anything we should know. Two minutes, done.

3

Join the first session

Everything you need arrives by email before 3 August: schedule, software setup guide and your camper's login.

Already have a key or ID?

Not ready yet? Get the brochure, or and ask us anything.

Register your interest

Start with the brochure

No commitment. The brochure has the full schedule, session times and everything else you need to decide.

Loading questions…

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What does my child need?

A laptop or desktop computer (Windows or Mac), less than around 6 to 7 years old, with a mouse and a stable internet connection. No dedicated graphics card is needed for these projects. We send a simple setup guide before the first session, and you are welcome to email hello@virtx.uk if you are unsure your device is suitable.

When are the sessions?

12 live sessions between 3 and 28 August, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 16:00 UK time. Each session lasts 2 hours.

What if we miss a session?

Every session is recorded, and the private replay is emailed to registered parents. Mentors also help campers catch up at the start of the next session.

My child is 8, will they keep up? My teen is 16, is it too basic?

Campers work in age bands (8 to 10, 11 to 13, 14 to 17) with projects pitched to their level. The tools are the same ones professionals use, the pace is not.

How big are the groups?

The whole camp is capped at 10 campers with 3 mentors, so nobody gets lost at the back.

Is it safe?

Our tutors are NSPCC certified and DBS checked. Sessions are supervised live, and we are ICO registered for data protection.

Can we join just one module?

Yes. Each module stands alone at £105, or take all four for £390 and finish with a complete game.

Do you offer payment plans?

Yes, payment plans are available. Email hello@virtx.uk and we will set one up.

Can we pay by bank transfer or another payment method?

Yes. Card payments through Stripe are the fastest way to secure a place, but we also accept bank transfer and other arrangements. Email hello@virtx.uk and we will send our bank details and sort it out directly.

What is your refund policy?

Full refund if it is not right for your child after the first session. After that, fees are non-refundable, though we will always consider genuine extenuating circumstances. Email hello@virtx.uk and we will talk it through.

We are not in the UK, can we still join?

Yes, the camp is fully online. Sessions run on UK time, so check the schedule works for your time zone.