Course Summary
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.
Our course will equip you, like many of our successful graduates, for a role in the expanding games industry. We're justly proud of the imagination and quality of our students’ work. By the end of your course, you should be playing a game you designed and developed yourself – and hopefully following in the footsteps of the many UEL graduates now making their mark in the games industry.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
Both of our three-year computer games courses share a common core of modules. The Computer Games Design (Story Development) programme differs slightly, though, with its emphasis on the application of traditional story and narrative design to game and gameplay design. The course will allow you to develop creative writing skills and focus on how they relate to game design.
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. Working in a group, you'll 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.
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 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 o 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. o In the classroom you will be taught in groups of 18–30+ students. However, this can vary by academic year.
YOUR FUTURE CAREER
We believe our courses are ideal preparation for a career in the games industry - and we can point to a couple of BAFTAs to back it up.
After graduating with a computer games degree here, Ashraf Mohammad started working with Rocksteady as a games tester. He has gone on to work on the Batman series of games and was a member of the team who won the 'Best Gameplay' and 'Best Game' BAFTAs for Batman: Arkam Asylum.
He is just one in a long list of our graduates who have made a real impact in the industry. For instance, in the last five years, two have featured in Develop Magazine’s list of the industry’s top 30 most promising young talents.
One, Richard Hamer, is now a top designer for Sony Entertainment Europe. The other, Ryan Wiltshire, worked for leading companies and has now set up his own studio. Another graduate, Matt Glanville, is a highly respected designer who’s now working for Just Add Water on Oddworld.
Some students go on to work as designers, programmers, testers and producers in a wide range of companies while others have become games design teachers themselves or launched successful careers in other areas of digital media.
Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal
How you'll be assessed
Coursework will include practical outcomes, e.g. individual or group-based games, artefacts, presentations, written assignments.
The approximate percentages for this course are:
- Year 1: 90% coursework, 10% exams
- Year 2: 100% coursework
- Year 3: 100% coursework
You’ll always receive written or audio feedback, outlining your strengths and how you can improve. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days.
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