Program Overview

BA (Honours) Game Design and Development

Course summary

Study a course with a distinctive, practice-based approach to games design – gaining a diverse skill set and useful experience within the field.

How you learn

Our course is designed with key principles of engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing a supportive environment where you can thrive.

• Practical studio workshops
• Collaborative group projects
• Technical demonstrations
• Individual and group tutorials
• Peer reviews
• Lectures
• External visits and field trips

Modules

Year 1

• Digital Prototyping 1 (40 credits)
  • Module Aim: Introduces you to the fundamental skills necessary for creating digital prototypes for games or game mechanics.
  • Indicative content:
    • Bespoke template projects
    • Simple scripting
    • Concept ideation
    • Onboarding and player communication
• Game Design Practice (40 credits)
  • Module Aim: Widens your understanding of games design principles, exploring experimental techniques through a variety of techniques.
  • Indicative content:
    • Concept development and prototyping
    • Building physical game objects
    • Designing serious games with real-world applications
    • Digital prototyping experimentation
    • Analysing user testing and feedback
• Game Design Theory (20 credits)
  • Module Aim: Provides the theoretical underpinnings for future practical work by introducing fundamental principles of game design and critical analysis of existing digital games.
  • Indicative content:
    • Game design concepts and the fundamental process of game design
    • Challenges, actions, risks and rewards
    • Dramatic tension and gameplay tension
    • Approaches to game narrative
    • Interaction models and feedback elements
    • Level design, atmosphere and pacing
    • Understanding player psychology
    • Virtual worlds
• Game Project (20 credits)
  • Module Aim: Equips you with the skills you need to work in multidisciplinary project teams.
  • Indicative content:
    • Applying individual practice skills to a defined multi-disciplinary team-based project
    • Communication within project teams
    • Methods for project management, planning and reporting
    • Presentation of work to other team members
    • Reporting on personal and team performance
    • Receiving and giving constructive criticism and feedback

Year 2

• Advanced Game Design Theory (20 credits)
  • Module Aim: Enables you to prepare game concepts for development through application of advanced design theory and applied practical research methods.
  • Indicative content:
    • Playtesting methodologies
    • Categories of player motivations
    • Applying neuroscience to game design
    • Onboarding, i.e., tutorial techniques
    • Emotional design approaches
    • Advanced design documentation practices
    • Specialised design problems, such as economy design
• Digital Prototyping 2 (40 credits)
  • Module Aim: Further develops prototyping skills, from concept to development and testing.
  • Indicative content:
    • Working with game development platforms
    • Concept development and creative planning
    • Planning and project management
    • Mechanics as metaphor - designing meaningful interactions
    • World building and environmental storytelling
    • Interactive narrative development
• Interactive Realities (20 credits)
  • Module Aim: Introduces new methods and tools for creating interactive work outside the bounds of traditional screen media.
  • Indicative content:
    • Workshops on immersive design, mixed reality interaction, digital narrative design & experimental game design
    • Industry-led briefings outlining theme and design challenges
    • Milestones set and reviewed by industry contact at agreed intervals
    • Presentation pitches of student solutions to industry brief
    • Client-led enhanced applied project
• Specialist Pathways 1 (40 credits)
  • Module Aim: Introduces you to a range of specialised routes into industry, by asking you to identify an area that aligns with your interests and capabilities.
  • Indicative content:
    • Experimental games
    • Narrative design
    • Physical games
    • Concept pitching

Year 3

• Alternate Realities (20 credits)
  • Module Aim: Focuses on storytelling across mixed reality platforms.
  • Indicative content:
    • Storytelling across XR platforms
    • Visual Communication
    • Non-linear/Alternative narrative structures
    • UI/UX
    • Experiential design
    • Storytelling ethics/accessibility
    • Innovation across professional contexts
• Final Game Project (40 credits)
  • Module Aim: Enables you to undertake a design and development major project to produce a game or a set of game assets for a defined audience and to a high standard.
  • Indicative content:
    • Research
    • Concept creation and documentation
    • Ideation
    • Project planning
    • Presenting work
    • Reflecting on feedback
    • Producing multiple iterations of work
• Research And Development Proposal (20 credits)
  • Module Aim: Enables you to prepare and plan strategies for your work in your ‘Final Game Project’.
  • Indicative content:
    • Project planning and management
    • Working to professional specifications and limitations
    • Reviewing games-specific distribution methods
    • Portfolio generation
    • Pre-production documentation
    • Visual design and layout
    • Work experience
• Specialist Pathways 2 (40 credits)
  • Module Aim: Focuses on professional roles in the games industry and beyond, supporting you to build a professional portfolio that meets the standard required for a junior design role in the games and allied creative industries.
  • Indicative content:
    • User interface and user experience design
    • Creative direction for games
    • Mixed reality design

Future careers

You’ll graduate with the skills, knowledge and confidence to make a meaningful impact in the ever-evolving world of gaming.

This course prepares you for a career in:

• Videogame design
• Mechanics and gameplay prototyping
• Level design
• User experience (UX) design
• Narrative design and game story development
• Systems design
• Independent games development
• Tabletop game design (analogue)

Equipment and facilities

You’ll have access to a wide variety of facilities across the university campuses – including a 24-hour learning centre, Students’ Union, cafes and eateries, lecture theatres, exhibition spaces and more.

You’ll also have access to:

• Industry-standard high-end gaming specification PCs in studio style labs
• One of the world’s largest PlayStation teaching facilities
• A motion capture suite
• A specialist virtual and mixed reality space
• Our commercial games studio, Steel Minions
• Industry-standard computer software and equipment via the Institute of Technology
• A cutting-edge immersive suite of AR and VR tools
• Advanced motion-capture facilities
• Interactive studio space

Where will I study?

You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.

Entry requirements

• UCAS points: 112-120
• GCSE: English Language at grade C or 4
• Access: An Access to HE Diploma with at least 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2. At least 18 level 3 credits must be at merit grade or above, in a media-related programme, from a QAA-recognised Access to HE course, or an equivalent Access to HE certificate.
• International: If you are an International or non-UK European student, you can find out more about the country specific qualifications we accept on our international qualifications page.

Fees and funding

• Home students: Tuition fees for 2026/27 are not yet confirmed. Our tuition fee for UK students on full-time undergraduate courses in 2025/26 is £9,535 per year (capped at a maximum of 20% of this during your placement year).
• International students: Our tuition fee for International/EU students starting full-time study in 2026/27 is £18,000 per year (capped at a maximum of 20% of this during your placement year)