Game Design

Course Overview

Love video games and want to learn to make your own? Interested in exploring games production and the varied careers open to you in this growing field?

This course gives you a strong grounding in independent games development over two years, so you can develop an area of specialism and build up a portfolio to show potential employers and backers.

Growing opportunities

As media and computing advances, so do the careers in this sector. The growth is being fuelled by the availability of inexpensive commercial grade development tools, and simple third party digital marketing options. Combined with an increase in demand for a wider variety of games, the opportunities for independent game developers are growing.

All bases covered

This two-year course covers all the main aspects of indie game development, so you’ll learn about everything from game design, and 2D and 3D asset creation, to drawing and programming. You’ll develop game assets from conception through to production, tackle the design issues faced when building games for mobile, and discover how to implement game play through scripts.

As the course progresses, you’ll build on your creative skills and improve your programming ability. As you master new technologies used within artificial intelligence, you’ll implement advanced game design techniques into your games projects.

Focus on an area of specific interest

Interested more in the programming side of games development? Or perhaps your skills lend themselves more to the creative aspect of gaming production? Working on both individual and team based projects, you’ll be given the opportunity to specialise in an area of particular interest.

The portfolio you develop, and industry experience you gain, will put you in a strong position for jobs. You can also choose to top up your qualification to a full degree by doing the final year of a programme such as BA (Hons) Independent Games Production.

Who is it for?

This degree is for anyone interested in games design, including those from both a creative and technical background.

Course Details

The course has been designed to give you access to a very broad curriculum, covering game theory, art and design, game development for different platforms, the modelling, creation and implementation of game assets, functional and usability testing, artificial intelligence, animation, audio and special effects.

You’ll leave the course with:

• the diverse skills required from an indie developer
• the ability to develop your own game assets, from conception through to production
• experience of using industry-standard games design technology
• an insight into all the different areas of games design, so you can see where your skills and interests lie.

Access to the latest industry-standard kit

You’ll have access to three dedicated games labs fitted with the latest industry-standard hardware and software, including high spec PCs and a range of cutting edge virtual and augmented reality equipment. In this fast moving industry, equipment and software is constantly evolving. Our course reflects this development and we have invested significantly in our facilities and staff with games industry experience.

A wealth of experience

Our lecturing team has significant experience working in the industry and the course benefits from regular visits from professional artists, game designers and developers. These guests provide a great context for the material being taught.

Be involved with some of the biggest gaming companies in the world

We’re a member of the PlayStation ® Vita Academic Development Programme run by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), which provides access to professional development hardware and software tools for both staff and students.

Each year, we also send a number of teams to the Games  Eden Game Jam in Cambridge.

What are the course entry requirements?

A typical offer will include GCSE Maths and English at grade C/4 or above and a UCAS Tariff score of 40-56. A minimum of two full A-levels (or equivalent) is required. Every application is considered on an individual basis.

For further details of our international English entry requirements, please visit our international pages.

How do I apply?

For application details please visit bucks.ac.uk/applying-to-bucks