Program Overview
B.A. in Game Design
Description
Participate as a designer in the real setting of a studio to conceive and bring the gaming experience to life. Join a multidisciplinary team (including fellow artists, programmers, and producers) to carry out projects, just as happens in the industry.
- Conceive and propose the features of the video game to create a memorable gaming experience.
- Conceptualize the gaming experience. To do this, you will learn to define the functionality, interfaces, missions, levels, rules, interactions, mechanics, and dynamics of the video game.
- Optimize and simplify your game design through a deep understanding of using game engines.
- Create the narrative and script for video games, addressing gameplay needs.
- Learn the principles of accessibility and usability that govern interactive products, specifically video games.
- Develop analytical and critical skills to conduct testing and quality control on your video games.
- Collaborate, in project courses, with students from other video game programs at U-tad to emulate the workflows and production processes found in the industry and video game studios. To achieve this, you will first acquire fundamental knowledge about the responsibilities and work processes of the other departments involved in video game creation: art, programming, and production.
Career Opportunities
By pursuing the B.A. in Game Design, you will be able to work in the following professions and fields:
- Video Game Designer
- Level Designer
- Mission Designer
- UI/UX Designer
- Serious Games Designer
- Video Game Writer
- Monetization Specialist
- Interaction Designer
- Technical Designer
- Game Mechanics Designer
Where Our Students Work
Our students are highly valued by the industry. We have a Professional Development Service Department that facilitates your integration into the various companies that contact us demanding highly-specialized professionals. We have students working in companies such as Black Forest Games, CI Games, Electronic Arts, Gameloft, King, Lingokids, Mercury Steam, Ninja Theory, Pendulo Studios, Rockstar Games, Saber Interactive, Scopely, Shapefarm, Tequila Works, Tessera Studios, Ubisoft.
Students' Projects and Awards
During the degree program, you will participate in various video games, as you will take a project course each semester. In these courses, you will work in teams and coordinate with students from other video game programs at U-tad. You will contribute design to the projects while the artistic and programming contributions will be handled by students from other video game degrees.
The three video game degrees at U-tad converge in the project courses. Each degree corresponds to one of the three main professional profiles involved in video game development: design, art, or programming. This allows for the formation of multidisciplinary teams, mentored by experts, who apply industry workflows to build high-level video games.
This ecosystem has proven to be effective, as it has frequently led to student video games receiving awards and crossing commercial borders. Six of the video games developed by U-tad students can currently be downloaded from the PlayStation 4 store, and several are available on Steam.
Talent Awards
U-tad is the Spanish educational center with the highest number of PlayStation Awards: 16 in the last eight years. Additionally, U-tad video game students have achieved 8 consecutive BIG awards, 4 SXSW awards in Austin (Texas), 3 Gamelab awards, and several Gamefest, IndieMad, and Gamepolis awards, among others.
Students' Feedback
We are very proud of our students because they stand out for their talent and effort. The training they have received at U-tad provides them with sound knowledge to develop their careers in a sector with a strong demand for professionals.
Thanks to U-tad, I discovered a totally new industry that I always dreamed of working in (and I didn't know I could do it).
Roberto Padrón, Level Designer at UbiSoft
I've worked at EA and Pyro Mobile, collaborating on games like FIFA 16 and Star Wars Battlefront. I won the King and Diversi scholarship and went on Erasmus to Norway, where my project Last Shark Standing won the NGA (Norwegian Game Awards). Now I'm at Novorama, where we've released the top selling game, Killsquad.
Victoria Vera, Game Designer at Novorama
International Mobility
At U-tad we have an International Relations Department that coordinates and establishes agreements with university institutions all over the world, as well as with governmental agencies responsible for international inter-university cooperation. We have agreements with prestigious universities in five continents and we are working to expand the number of institutions with exchange agreements either within the Erasmus program or with bilateral exchange agreements.
Faculty
- Daniel Martínez Bofarull, Academic Director of Video Games Area, Stage Clear Studios Co-Founder and Game Director
- Mercedes García Betegón, Coordinator of the Video Game Design Degree, Rigger, 3D Generalist
Study Plan
Course 1
| SUBJECT | COURSE | DURATION | TYPE | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals of 2D and 3D for Video Games I | 1º | 1º | B | 6 |
| Fundamentals of Mathematics and Physics | 1º | 1º | B | 6 |
| Game Theory | 1º | 1º | B | 6 |
| Fundamentals of Audiovisual Language | 1º | 1º | OB | 3 |
| Introduction to Video Games Industry and Design | 1º | 1º | B | 6 |
| Artistic History and Tradition | 1º | 2º | B | 6 |
| Fundamentals of Literature and Narrative | 1º | 2º | B | 6 |
| Fundamentals of Programming | 1º | 2º | B | 6 |
| Graphic Design, Interface and User Experience for Video Games | 1º | 2º | OB | 3 |
| History of Games | 1º | 2º | B | 6 |
| Projects I | 1º | Annual | OB | 6 |
Course 2
| SUBJECT | COURSE | DURATION | TYPE | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals of 2D and 3D for Video Games II | 2º | 1º | B | 6 |
| Psychology of Gaming | 2º | 1º | B | 6 |
| Video Game Engines I | 2º | 1º | OB | 6 |
| Video Game Design I | 2º | 1º | OB | 6 |
| Theory of Art for Video Games | 2º | 1º | OB | 6 |
| Video Game Design II | 2º | 2º | OB | 6 |
| Narrative Design | 2º | 2º | OB | 6 |
| Video Game Engines II | 2º | 2º | OB | 6 |
| Level Design | 2º | 2º | OB | 6 |
| Quality Assurance and Playtesting | 2º | 2º | OB | 3 |
| Projects II | 2º | Annual | OB | 6 |
Course 3
| SUBJECT | COURSE | DURATION | TYPE | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Models and Businesses | 4º | 1º | OB | 3 |
| Accessibility and Usability for Video Games | 4º | 2º | OB | 3 |
| Combat design | 4º | 2º | OB | 6 |
| Projects IV | 4º | Annual | OB | 12 |
| Digital Society and Sustainable Development | 4º | Annual | OB | 6 |
| Advanced Programming and Artificial Intelligence for Video Games | 4º | 1º | OP | 6 |
| Scriptwriting and Dialogue for Video Games | 4º | 1º | OP | 6 |
| Serious Game Design and Gamification | 4º | 1º | OP | 6 |
| Casual, Social and Multiplayer Game Design | 4º | 2º | OP | 6 |
| Comunication and Presentation | 4º | 2º | OP | 6 |
| Training for employment | 4º | Annual | OP | 6 |
| Choice of work environment | 4º | Annual | OP | 6 |
| Bachelor’s Degree Final Project | 4º | Annual | TFG | 6 |
Course 4
| SUBJECT | COURSE | DURATION | TYPE | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Models and Businesses | 4º | 1º | OB | 3 |
| Accessibility and Usability for Video Games | 4º | 2º | OB | 3 |
| Combat design | 4º | 2º | OB | 6 |
| Projects IV | 4º | Annual | OB | 12 |
| Digital Society and Sustainable Development | 4º | Annual | OB | 6 |
| Advanced Programming and Artificial Intelligence for Video Games | 4º | 1º | OP | 6 |
| Scriptwriting and Dialogue for Video Games | 4º | 1º | OP | 6 |
| Serious Game Design and Gamification | 4º | 1º | OP | 6 |
| Casual, Social and Multiplayer Game Design | 4º | 2º | OP | 6 |
| Comunication and Presentation | 4º | 2º | OP | 6 |
| Training for employment | 4º | Annual | OP | 6 |
| External Academic Internships | 4º | Annual | OP | 6 |
| Bachelor’s Degree Final Project | 4º | Annual | TFG | 6 |
Additional Information & Competencies
- Year of implementation:
- Spots for new students in the Degree: 90 in person + 60 online
- Branch of knowledge: Art & Humanities
Minimum Number of ECTS per Type of Registration and Course
| Minimum | Maximum | |
|---|---|---|
| Full time 1st course | 60 | 60 |
| Full time rest of courses | 30 | 75 |
| Part-time 1st course | 25 | 30 |
| Part-time rest of courses | 18 | 45 |
Program Outline
Careers:
- Digital Media and Entertainment
- Videogame Designer
- Graphic Designer for Videogames
- Video Game Programmer
- Video Game Producer
- Level Designer
- Game Mechanics Designer
- Misison Designer
- Advergaming
- Gamification specialist
- Interface Designer
Publication
- Digital book, web or interactive press designer
- E-learning Interface Designer
Audiovisual and Communication
- Multimedia Designer
Advanced Technologies
- Simulation and Virtual Reality Specialist
Advertising and Marketing
- 3D Computer Graphics Creative Designer
- Multimedia Designer
- Web Designer
- E-business Application Designer
- Interactive project manager
- Network Society/ Information Networks
