Whether it’s the fun of Super Mario or the horror of Resident Evil that consumes you, this is your chance to convert your passion for playing games into knowledge about how to create and design them.

You’ll get the most out of our course if you come with an interest in all kinds of games – board, card and pen-and-paper - not just digital ones. You’ll be amazed what you can learn from games like Munchkin or Dungeons and Dragons.

We run two games courses at UEL, subtly different but both sharing the same focus on designing games and game play.

By the end of your course, you should be playing a game you designed yourself – and hopefully following in the footsteps of the many UEL graduates now making their mark in the games industry.

In your first year, you’ll look at the basic theoretical and practical aspects of games design and development. One day you could be deconstructing Asteroids or Pac-Man, the next creating your own board game. You’ll be learning about graphics and prototyping production techniques as well as games theory.

In your second year, you’ll concentrate on more detailed games design as well as studying games research methods. You’ll also get the chance to apply your developing knowledge by working for a live client.

You’ll gain valuable insights into all aspects of professional practice. It’s not just about designing games but about communicating your ideas properly, so you’ll take part in presentations and pitches.

In your final year, you’ll complete an individual research and dissertation project. A group of you will also conceptualise, design and develop an original game to give you a proper feel for how the games industry works.

At the same time, you’ll be putting the final touches to your final professional portfolio to ensure you are in the best possible position after your graduate.

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 the practice-led teaching is relevant to industry and practice. Our staff are well placed to take advantage of a range of professional networks and industry contact. Each module is designed with practical components informed by theoretical underpinnings, with the intention that students develop an ability to have an informed approach when designing their practical 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, 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 the academic course team 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 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, guest talks and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible.

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.