Exploring the secrets of videogames in Sheffield exhibition with original handmade maps and sketches behind world favourites like Worms, Monument Valley and Lumino City

From artists' sketches to notebooks detailing their plans, to the computer that created Worms, The Art of Play explores creative talent.

To John O'Shea, creative director, videogames have become an art form in their own right.

He said: "Games are in everybody's homes now, in everybody's pockets on our mobile phones.

"What we want to do is talk about video games as an art form. With the exhibition, we're looking at imagery, the environment, and the experience of games, revealing how they have been created by studios in the UK to become international success stories.

"You can see the intricacy and artistry that has gone into making all of these games," he added. "It makes the process really incredible."

The exhibition, which runs for six months and is backed by Arts Council England, features tools of the trade from some of the biggest names in the UK videogames business.

Five games feature, all homegrown, including Wakefield's Team 17 which created the 1990s favourites Worms and Worms 2.

There's the award-winning contemporary game Monument Valley, with meditative puzzles influenced by the works of artist MC Escher. Then No Longer Home, and intricate models made by Lumino City designers exploring architecture and animation.

For the first time a hand-drawn map, created by the Oliver twins for Fantasy World Dizzy, is on display featuring notes and hand drawn sketches - complete with rubbings out.

For Wakefield-made classic Worms there's the Amiga 4000 computer used in its design, with memos, rough notes, and storyboard designs by art director Cris Blyth alongside development diaries, sketches and illustrations that he coded to become graphics.

Mr O'Shea said: "It really was the cutting edge of video game development and that was happening here in Yorkshire in the 1990s.

"It continues to be happening here in Yorkshire right now. That creative development for the UK is burning bright."

Videogames, as a technology, came about towards the end of the 20th century, explained Mr O'Shea, but they were thought about almost as toys.

In the last decade they have come to be viewed as an art form - while their role in society has been brought into focus under lockdowns where for many they became a social space, and an avenue for interaction.

"As a museum, our role is to show how video games are an important part of our culture," he added.

"They are an integral part of people's lives, and they deserve to be celebrated for the history and stories they share."

The Art of Play is open now at Sheffield’s National Videogame Museum, and runs for six months.

As well as exhibitions featuring artists’ work and tools, sketches and notes, there are video interviews with the designers and artists who also detail the concept development and inspiration behind the five games.