Game Design BA (Hons)

This course is in clearing

Overview

Course options

Select year

Degree

UCAS code: G480 112 UCAS points
  • BA (Hons) Game Design , home applicant, full time

    • This course is in Clearing

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 3 years
    • Pound 9250 per year
  • BA (Hons) Game Design , home applicant, part time

    • Home Applicant
    • Part time
    • pro-rata full time fee

Degree with foundation year

UCAS code: G481 64 UCAS points

What makes this course different

Aligns with industry demands

You'll be taught by a mixture of academics and industry professionals with experience in game design and development. Be inspired by industry speakers who will give talks on various topics.

Practical output

Create games for simulated real-world briefs. Develop them for targeted demographics, marketplaces and player types. This will give you a real sense of what designing a game would be like in a studio.

Promoting creativity among students

Explore your creative aspirations. Give a video game a creative direction from paper to screen in an environment that mirrors the multi-disciplinary ecosystem of the game industry.

Course modules

In your first term of the first year, you will explore the three core areas of game development and game design. This is to allow you to get an idea of each field and make an informed decision, of areas that interest you. In the second term, the course will introduce you to theoretical and practical aspects of game design. You will explore how to express yourself by designing games, and learn a scripting language such as C# to prototype your design decisions. You will experience a simulated studio environment. There will be an emphasis on soft skills required to work within multidisciplinary and diverse teams. Our games design courses at our university ensure you are well-prepared for a successful game design career.

In your second year of game designing, you will select an optional module to specialise in that area. This could be level design, narrative design, and system design. This will progress to a more advanced version within your second term. In your core modules, you will improve your game concept prototyping skills. You will work on not only your original game ideas but also various themes. You will explore theories, tools and technologies to design playful experiences in the broad field of interactive design. In the second term, you will have another simulated studio environment experience. There will be an emphasis on completing and publishing a small-to-medium-scale game project as a multidisciplinary team. You will develop your online presence. You will learn how to market yourself for potential internship and employment opportunities.

In the final year of your game design course, you'll complete a final project. It will be centred around a game design specialisation you wish to further explore based on your previous studies. You will develop games for various purposes other than entertainment and explore video game designer career opportunities within other fields. In the second term, you will have your simulated studio environment experience. There will be an emphasis on completing and publishing a polished medium-scale game project as a multidisciplinary team. In a separate module, you will develop items for your portfolio. They will showcase your skills and experiences within your chosen specialism, tailored towards the game design jobs you’re interested in after you graduate.

NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.

Download course specification

Your future career

In the evolving landscape of technology and entertainment, studying a game design course promises an exciting choice for future careers. This will include, of course, video game designer and other related game design jobs. As the industry continues to expand and diversify, you will leave with a solid foundation in game design. You will learn a wide variety of game-specific skills to equip you to be a pioneer in the industry and get into the games career you love.

Industry links

We have links with those in the games industry like:

Graduate employers

Our graduates have gone on to work in both AAA and indie game development inside and outside the UK and continue to play a key role in the shaping of the interactive entertainment and games industry.

Job roles

With our links to the games industry, you can go into roles such as game designers, narrative designers, level designers, and systems designers. 

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

Further study

We run MA programmes in media and communications. These explore the intersection of gaming, game design courses, media, and cultural studies. This will give you a nuanced understanding of the broader socio-cultural impact of digital entertainment. These courses offer a comprehensive view, enhancing your potential as a graphic design games expert.

Alternatively, our partner institution Metropolitan College in Greece offers an MSc programme in Game Design and Development, exploring game design principles and emerging technologies.

Computer games development laptop with screenshot of game development
We work closely with the game development team to look for opportunities for game development students, including visits, industry speakers and internships."
Career Zone team

Career Zone

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated careers support, and further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting-edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

This digital platform provides you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work 
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services 
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you've mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

Our Mental Wealth programme

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top:

  • Work-based projects
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations
  • Support in starting a new business
  • London on our doorstep

How you'll learn

You'll be taught by a range of academics, many of whom are practitioners in the area they teach. Some of the assessments focus on practical skills and are presented as 'live or simulated briefs'. This ensures that practice-led teaching is relevant to the industry. Our staff are well placed to take advantage of a range of professional networks and industry contacts. Each module is designed with practical components informed by theoretical underpinnings, with the intention that you will develop an ability to have an informed approach when designing your practical game design assignments.

Guided independent study

When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, and specialist facilities, such as game labs, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.

Academic support

Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas - including learning and disability support.

Dedicated personal tutor

When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of staff who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at UEL and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer.

Workload

Each year you will spend around 276 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.

The approximate workload hours for this course are:

  • Scheduled teaching - 276 hours 
  • Guided independent study - 924 hours

Your timetable

Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

Class sizes

To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally attracts 30-40 students a year. Lecture sizes are normally 30 plus students. In the classroom, you will be taught in groups of 18-30+ students. However, this can vary by academic year.

How you'll be assessed

Coursework will include practical outcomes, e.g. individual or group-based games, artefacts, presentations, written assignments. 

You'll always receive detailed feedback outlining your strengths and how you can improve. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days, although you will receive immediate feedback following many of our face-to-face assessments.

Campus and facilities

Docklands Campus, London, E16 2RD

DiscoverUni

The banner below displays some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).

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Statistics for BA (Hons) Game Design Degree, Full Time

Statistics for BA (Hons) Game Design Degree, Full Time

What our students and staff say

Code on a computer screen
I don't think I've ever been made to feel more welcome. Being surrounded by people who are friendly, social, and share your interests has to be one of the best things I can say about my university experience."

Ben Nizan

BA (Hons) Computer Games Design

Computer game design story development
It was amazing to see our games on the EGX Rezzed stage for the 'Blended Realities: UMBRO China x UEL' talk. The opportunity to collaborate with fashion students and a fashion giant like Umbro was exciting, especially when the games were on display at the ChinaFunteen exhibition, part of the Shanghai fashion week, as well."

Ethan L.

Level 6 Game development student