William and Kate go head-to-head on computer games at Abertay University

William and Kate tried out a selection of games created by a group of young people who were winners of a national design competition run by Bafta.

At Dundee’s Abertay University they first stopped to chat to Camylle Tulia, 14, who had created an imaginative game which featured one level, the Cambridges tried, where the player was set the challenge of waking up dreamers from within their own mind fantasies.

William hit one or two “minions” that stopped the player fulfilling the task and as he did so he gave a mock laugh “ha, ha”.

Kate was more reluctant to grab the controls saying “I have a lot to learn,” and the Duke replied “I can’t educate her, she’s not interested”.

But this awakened her competitive streak and she teased him “Come on, William!” and took over, and when she destroyed a minion he said “You got one”.

The game’s 14-year-old creator said: “They were good for first timers.”

She added: “The duchess needed a little bit of help. It is only about one per cent of what I have planned. I’m pretty sure when I have had the chance to fully develop it they will have enough time to fully try it out.”

The competition organised by Bafta, of which William, 33, is patron, puts young game creators together with designers based at Abertay University which offers world class tuition in computer game design.

Oliver Dowling, 24, from Troon studying for a masters in game development at Abertay University, had talked the royal couple through Camylle’s game, that he and more than a dozen other postgraduate students had spent five weeks turning from an idea into a working product.

He said after the royal visit, that Kate confessed to playing a popular video game: “William certainly got to grips with it, I feel he was able to play it, but maybe not so much Kate although she did say she had played Halo.

“You had to use magic abilities or punching to stop the minions and he seemed to do it better than her.”

A quieter game was shown the couple towards the end of their visit. Based on an intricate William Morris floral print, Strawberry Thief is activated by striking fingers over the face of a tablet computer as insects gather berries.

It was the brainchild of Sophia George, 25, who graduated from the college in 2012, and spent three months building it.

She said: “It’s relaxing – you’re not killing or dying or shooting and there’s no zombies,” and she added that Kate had said she was a great fan of Morris prints.

The 25-year-old added: “Prince William said he could see how calm it was and that Kate would like it. So that’s definitely made my day.”