United Kingdom

University of the Arts London

MA Games Design

University degrees: Postgraduate

Course length: 1 year 3 months full time (45 weeks across a four-term model)

Rooted in experimental practice, MA Games Design will equip you with both the technical and critical skills to produce a broad portfolio of innovative game prototypes.

Why choose this course at London College of Communication

  • Freedom to explore through practice: respond to live briefs, learn through creating and find your unique position between coding and making.
  • Experiences beyond the screen: make games in the widest sense – including physical, experiential, critical and socially-reflective games across both digital and non-digital – and discover the possibilities of playable experiences.
  • Connect with industry: engage with gaming industry professionals and plug-in to contemporary design practices through our range of guest lectures, events, trips, and visits to conferences.
  • Develop your portfolio: create finished products, exhibit work and graduate with a high quality and diverse portfolio that will prepare you for a career in the games, interaction and wider design industries.
  • Collaborate beyond the boundaries of games design: work with animators, interaction designers, sound artists, graphic designers, filmmakers across UAL’s diverse network of artists, designers, makers and communicators.

  • MA Games Design critically examines the concept of play in relation to the practice of games design. You will produce playable prototype gaming experiences and use games design as a means to test critical ideas from broader culture.

    What can you expect?

    The course is particularly interested in how games design principles are being used more generally and how these ideas impact upon our increasingly digital culture.

    MA Games Design will enable you to understand and articulate the unique value of game experience to an increasingly interested design industry and allow you to understand the value of your game experience prototypes.

    Building on LCC’s resources, in digital, time-based and interactive media, alongside printmaking, graphic design and visual communication, the course encourages experimental and reflective practice that echoes the cross media nature of the design, communication and media industries.

    The course also supports progression to research at MPhil/PhD level as well as to advanced self-directed experimental practice.

    Mode of Study

    MA Games Design is in Full Time mode which runs for 45 weeks over 15 months. You will be expected to commit 40 hours per week to study.

    Course units

    Each course is divided into units, which are credit-rated. The minimum unit size is 20 credits. The MA course structure involves five units, totalling 180 credits.

    You will respond to briefs that are set to test your learning, in the units described below:

    Autumn, Term 1

    Design and Prototyping (40 credits)
    Understanding Gaming Experience (20 credits)

    In Term 1, students explore a range of both technical and conceptual approaches to games design and development and work with a range of technologies by producing playable prototypes.

    Students will engage in critical study that significantly expands their understanding of what gaming experience is and how it operates at both the level of the individual and society. This phase is the technical and conceptual basis for the subsequent phases of the course.

    Spring, Term 2

    Critical Play and Experimental Development (40 credits)
    Collaborative Unit (20 credits)

    In Term 2, students specifically develop games that reflect the critical context set out in Term One and test these issues through the design and production of critical games.

    This practice is underpinned by a programme that gives students the technical skills to be able to experiment widely with various games design technologies and platforms when prototyping their critical games. Term 2 specifically contains a cross-College collaborative unit.

    Summer, term 3

    Critical Play and Experimental Development (continued)
    Final Major Project and Thesis (60 credits)

    In Term 3, students synthesise the knowledge, skills and experience from the first two terms of the course in the production of a self-directed project and associated thesis.

    Autumn, Term 4

    Final Major Project and Thesis (continued)

    If you are unable to continue or decide to exit the course, there are two possible exit awards. A Postgraduate Certificate will be awarded on successful completion of the first 60 credits and a Postgraduate Diploma will be awarded on successful completion of the first 120 credits.

    Learning and teaching methods

    • Lectures/Large Group Learning
    • Workshop and Seminar Learning
    • Academic Tutorials
    • Individual and group critiques
    • Individual project work
    • Self-Directed learning
    • Assessed Assignments
    • Technical Workshops
    • Demonstrations

    Assessment methods

    • The Portfolio of Work
    • Prepared writing
    • Crits and presentations

Programs, Courses, Workshops