Program Overview

MA Game Design

Our interdisciplinary 18-month MA Game Design course—a dynamic and immersive programme tailored to elevate your expertise in the rapidly evolving world of interactive entertainment. Through advanced study, we aim to sharpen your research skills, cultivate a robust visual communication language, and empower you to specialise within the exciting field of game design.

Programme Overview

Our MA Game Design equips students for the dynamic digital games industry where rapid growth demands skilled practitioners to drive innovation. Taught by game studies academics and industry experts, this course delves into game development within an industrial context. You'll build your portfolio as a solo developer or collaborator, culminating in a final major project to create a digital game product.

Programme Fee

• Hamburg: Feb, October
• 2025: February/October: International students Price: €13,250 | EU students Price: €8,450

Key Programme Information

• Duration: 18 months
• Intakes: February, October
• Campus: Hamburg, Germany
• Degree awarded by: University for the Creative Arts

Programme Structure

This 18-month (Level 7) Game Design MA consists of three terms of study and six months dedicated to your dissertation.

• Term 1-2: Lectures and seminars, exploring your creative practice to inform the detailed development of your project proposal.
• Term 3: Developing your MA project, evaluating and testing out the aims of your proposal over a sustained period of self-directed study.

Modules

• Expressive Game Design: Games Research and Professional Contexts 1
• Prototyping Lab: Genre and Affect Games Research and Professional Contexts 2
• Games Design Project

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the MA in Game Design course students should be able to:

• Develop the ability to create groundbreaking game concepts, design prototypes, and test ideas that push the boundaries of creativity, intersecting with genre and emotional impact.
• Gain practical and conceptual mastery across a diverse spectrum of game design and development concepts, principles, and techniques.
• Deconstruct games to analyse dynamics, mechanics, and aesthetics, proposing innovative solutions to elevate the overall gaming experience.

Career Progression

Successful Graduates: Navigating Lucrative Careers in the Gaming Industry.

• Concept designer
• Game designer
• Games developer
• Multimedia programmer
• Multimedia specialist
• Software engineer
• VFX artist

Entry Requirements

• Minimum age: 21
• Academic qualifications: Successful completion of a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university
• English Requirements: Access the Proof of English Guide (UCA) here.

Portfolio Submission

• Your Portfolio Submission: A collection of your best work, showcasing what inspires you, how you develop your work, your creative thinking processes, and what makes you a unique creative individual.
• What should my portfolio contain?: Sketches, paintings, digital art and design, sound work, short films.
• How do I submit my portfolio?: Upload up to 12 pieces of work which can include audio or video files via our BSBI Applicant Portal.