A group of teenagers have collaborated with older people from West Cardiff to create a video game exploring what play means to different generations.
"Back in My Day: Ely Memory Lane" is a video game about the childhood experiences of eight members of the over-60s community Endeavourers Group in Ely, Cardiff.
The game was co-designed by year eight students at Cardiff West Community High School following a series of workshops run by Cardiff University PhD researcher Rhianedd Collins.
The game now forms part of a six-month long exhibition at the Museum of Cardiff , which also features oral histories of childhood memories, photographs, illustrations, and vintage toys.
The collaboration came to life when the two groups met up for the first time in project workshops, sharing their respective experiences of play in a creative brainstorm for the project.
One of the older project members Theresa said: "It was a very rewarding experience. Watching the pupil who I was partnered with create the pixel art amazed me."
We had fun designing together. I was so at ease and comfortable working with her. It made me feel young again.
From these discussions sprang ideas and the inspiration needed to plan a storyline and the young people used GB Studio (open-source software for creating GameBoy style games) to start building the video game.
PhD researcher Rhianedd Collins, based in the School of Global Humanities' department of History, Archaeology and Heritage, who led the project, said: "The longer the project went on, the more each generation became interested in the other group's side of the project, meeting in a creative middle point which would be impossible to reach without such a collaboration."
This project really demonstrates the unique power of multigenerational research, as well as the potential of video games to engage people with shared histories.
"The children were fascinated by stories of play with vintage toys from a time far removed from their own childhoods. At the same time, the older generation enjoyed the opportunity to speak to the younger generation of Caerau and Ely about their experiences. Members of the Endeavourers Group were also intrigued by the prospect of telling their own grandchildren that they were in a video game."
She added: "The project members voted on various title ideas that they had developed. The younger project members chose 'Ely Memory Lane' and the older project members voted for 'Back in My Day', so we chose to combine the two titles to represent the project best."
The exhibition is on display in the Museum of Cardiff's City Showcase gallery between 11 July – 31 October 2026.
Alison Tallontire, the Museum of Cardiff's Museum Manager said: "We are delighted to be hosting Ely Memory Lane this summer at the Museum of Cardiff. The exhibition is a great example of older and younger generations working together to co-create an exhibition. It has been wonderful to work with Rhianedd and the team at Cardiff University to see this project come together. Visitors to the exhibition can listen to oral histories, see childhood toys from the 1940's and 50's, and even play a computer game! All inspired by memories of childhood play in Ely."
"Back in My Day: Ely Memory Lane" is available to play online for free here .
