Program Overview

Introduction to the Game Design Program

The BS in Game Design at DePaul University prepares students to become storytellers, critical thinkers, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the field of games. Students collaborate as part of interdisciplinary teams with programmers, artists, and musicians to master the iterative game design and development process, creating polished experiences. The program is nationally ranked by The Princeton Review and Animation Career Review.

Program Overview

Students build a portfolio showcasing their skills in developing AAA, indie, and art games, as well as transformative play experiences on established and emerging platforms, including augmented and virtual reality, tabletop, and other physical interfaces. For international students, this is a STEM-designated program, which can qualify them to extend their post-graduation stay in the United States.

Career Opportunities

Recent graduates of the game program have gone on to work at renowned companies such as NeatherRealm Studios, Raven, Blizzard, Zynga, Bethesda, Zenimax, Iron Galaxy, Kongregate/Synapse, US Army, Trinket Studios, Jackbox Games, Game Create Repeat, and Schell Games. Several graduates have also formed their own gaming companies, including Young Horses, whose indie hit Octodad was developed at DePaul.

Faculty

The faculty includes:

• Mike DeAnda, who studies the communication of queer lived experiences and modes of knowledge production through games.
• Brian Schrank, author of Avant-garde Videogames: Playing with Technoculture and director of the Virtual and Augmented Design Lab.
• Allen Turner, Creative Director of DePaul Originals Game Studio, with experience as a lead designer and game director at Wideload Games/Disney Interactive Studio.
• Lien Tran, an award-winning designer who breaks down real-world complexity into interactive systems, including social justice.
• Richard Wetzel, who researches play and games in different realities and is the director of the Hybrid Experience Lab.

Facilities and Resources

• The Jarvis Student Center for Innovation and Collaboration is an 8,000 square-foot open space where students and faculty come together to ideate and innovate.
• DePaul Originals Game Studios, where students work on small portions of a bigger game, emulating a large studio experience.
• An emerging tech room equipped with state-of-the-art technology for student projects.
• The Virtual and Augmented Design Lab hosts classes and projects to research and develop experimental games on emerging platforms.
• Matters at Play, a transdisciplinary design lab focused on creating interactive advocacy solutions for positive social transformations.

Program Requirements

Curriculum Requirements

Although students can take course requirements in any order, provided they have mastered the course-specific prerequisites, it is recommended that they follow the year-by-year suggestions. The curriculum includes:

• First Year: Games Literacy, Survey of Game Engines, Fundamentals of Game Design, Playgramming, Game Development I, Intro to Visual Design, and Design Resources Exploration.
• Second Year: 3D Design and Modeling, 3D Animation, Intro to Game Production, Practical Scripting for Games, Introduction to Level Design, Game Development II.
• Third Year: Sound Design for Games I, Playtesting, Solo Game Development Project, Narrative Design, Data Analysis, and Major Electives.
• Fourth Year: Game Sprint Studio or Game Modification Workshop, Game Development Capstone I, Game Development Capstone II, Design Portfolio Development, and Major Electives.

Liberal Studies Requirements

Students must earn a grade of D or better in all courses taken to satisfy these requirements, with exceptions for the Capstone course and WRD 103 and WRD 104, which require a C- or better.

Major Electives

Major elective courses must meet specific criteria, including eight credit hours from GAM courses at the 300-level and twelve credit hours from any 200-level ANI, CP, DOC, FILM, GAM, GD, GPH, ID, INTD, POST, SCWR, UXD, or VFX courses or from any 300-level CDM course.

Open Electives

Open Elective Credit Hours are required to meet the minimum graduation requirements of 192 hours and may be taken from any unit at DePaul.

Degree Requirements

Students must:

• Complete a minimum of 192 credit hours.
• Earn a grade of C- or higher in WRD 103, WRD 104, and all Major and Minor courses.
• Earn a grade of D or higher in all other Liberal Studies and Open Elective courses.
• Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher.
• Graduation honors are awarded based on the cumulative DePaul University GPA.