Program Overview

Master of Entertainment Arts and Engineering (MEAE)

The MEAE is designed as a cohort model where students remain together throughout the entire two years of the program (fall and spring semesters only). Students apply to one of five possible tracks (Game Arts, Game Design, Game Engineering, Game Production, or Technical Art) and will take a series of courses focused on their specialty. In addition, they will also all take academic and studio classes including Theories of Games and Play, Rapid Prototyping, Game Studio, and Advanced Game Studio 1 and 2.

Program Structure

• The program is divided into two years, with students taking courses in the fall and spring semesters.
• Students are part of a cohort, remaining together throughout the program.
• Five possible tracks are available: Game Arts, Game Design, Game Engineering, Game Production, or Technical Art.

Courses

Theories of Games and Play

In this required course for the MEAE, students will play and analyze games concurrently with studying contemporary research and theories about them. The medium of games will be examined from a variety of perspectives including their aesthetic potential, uses, culture, their industrial production, and more. This course provides opportunities for richer and more informed views on games as a cultural medium. The course involves significant amounts of reading, writing, and presenting.

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid Prototyping is a project-based course focused on the prototyping phase of game development. Over the course of the semester, students will work in small teams developing prototypes of video games in a short amount of time. Each development cycle presents constraints, and students will put game design theories into practice to overcome emergent problems brought about by working in interdisciplinary teams. This course serves as an introduction to studio simulations and will help students form and test their identities as a game developer.

Game Studio

This course provides MEAE students with a venue to test and explore the skills they have learned during their first semester of graduate studies and guidance in abstracting their experiences. Working in multidisciplinary groups, students will follow an industrial model while building a video game from the ground up. This model includes the following phases: brainstorming, pitching, prototyping, and development.

Advanced Game Studio I

Students work collaboratively in large teams in the design and development of their master's game project. This course is the first of a two-course sequence that continues in Advanced Game Studio II.

Advanced Game Studio II

Students work collaboratively in large teams in the design and development of their master's game project. This course is the second course of a two-course sequence that began in Advanced Game Studio I. Students are expected to publish their master's game project as part of this course.