MA Games Design

For our students coming from a non-UK educational background, UCA has launched an Integrated International Pre-Masters year. On this course you’ll prepare for postgraduate study with a mix of online and face-to-face learning that will give you the study skills required to complete a Master’s, and you’ll also improve your English for academic study.

Game Design
You’ll go beneath the surface of game play to explore the inner workings and construction of a game experience. You will be introduced to frameworks of design such as dynamics, mechanics, and aesthetics and how they intersect with interactive storytelling to examine what makes a game either compelling or uninspiring entertainment.

You will reflect upon your own experience of game play and explore the history of game development to identify games with poor player experience that can be deconstructed and analysed to identify solutions for improvements. Design skills will also be tested through development of small practical prototypes. You will also consider the role and impact that collaborative working has upon game design and develop effective professional approaches to game production.

Game Studies
You will explore the rich tapestry and depth of culture and society to understand how they intersect with the psychology of game play, design, and audience experience. You will be introduced to research methodology that will enable you to investigate a range of historical and contemporary contexts to devise your own hypothesises about the trajectory of game design.

This unit challenges you to question the ethical relationship between the designer and their game world and consider how various strata of game design decisions and issues of representation relating to sexuality, gender, and race intersect with and raise issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion. You will also consider how issues of representation within games shape game cultures and lead to toxic social environments for gamers from a diverse range of identities.

Prototyping Lab 1: Genre
Genre is a fundamental aspect of the digital games industry. The impact of genre intersects with audience expectations and permeates everything from media coverage and marketing to key production decisions around technology, mechanics, narrative and aesthetics.

You will investigate the process and project management tools used in game design production, and you will have opportunities to test the pre-production, production and postproduction cycle from the perspective of a range of developer roles and methods.

Prototyping Lab 2: Affect
The desire to convey mood, provoke emotion and generate atmosphere is driven by game affect. You will get to master the game design cycle by developing game prototypes through the experimentation of game affects and your exploration of how they intersect with player experience.

This unit will hone your application of the game design cycle and understanding of integrating design concepts to create innovative game projects and pitch them effectively in preparation of your final major project.

Human Centred Design
You will develop your appreciation of human-centred design, and in turn create intuitive, enjoyable, and desirable games, while accounting for the diversity of users and generating a critical perspective that queries a monolithic model of a human “user” or “player”.

Final Major Project and Professional Practice
The culmination of your studies is the opportunity to deliver and original game design project that will exhibit the level of accomplishment that you have developed within your practice through the previous units and use it to promote your professional industry presence as a games designer.

You will research and develop an idea to create an original games design project. The project will demonstrate your understanding of the critical theories and debates, including those relating to issues of representation and its connection to the formation of game cultures, that intersect game design and game play.

Alongside the final major project, you will also be developing your understanding of careers within the Games industry, including employers and opportunities that might attract you. You will support this through enhancing your online professional presence.

Tuition fees - 2024/25 entry

UK students:

• MA course - £10,500

EU students:

• MA course - £10,500 (see fee discount information)

International students:

• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (30 weeks) - £17,500
• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (15 weeks) - £8,750
• MA course - £18,000

Further information
The fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only. For more detailed information about our course fees and any financial support you may be entitled to please see our fees and finance pages.

Financial support

There are lots of ways you can access additional financial support to help you fund your studies - both from UCA and from external sources.

Discover what support you might qualify for please see our financial support information

UCA scholarships and fee discounts

At UCA we have a number of scholarships and fee discounts available to assist you with the cost of your studies.

You'll find everything you need to know for your level of study on our scholarships page.

Additional course costs

In addition to the tuition fees there may be other costs for your course. The things that you are likely to need to budget for to get the most out of a creative arts education will include books, printing costs, occasional or optional study trips and/or project materials.

These costs will vary according to the nature of your project work and the individual choices that you make. Please see the Additional Course Costs section of your Course Information for details of the costs you may incur.

Our students have previously graduated to find themselves within easily accessible pathways that have guided them to prosperous and fulfilling job roles within the games industry:

• Concept designer
• Game designer
• Games developer
• Multi-media programmer
• Multi-media specialist
• Software engineer
• VFX Artist

You may also wish to progress onto a PhD or MPhil research degree.

MA course

• A good honours degree or equivalent qualification in a related discipline
  
  

and/or

• Relevant work experience, demonstrating your ability to study at postgraduate level.
  
  

Consideration will also be given to applicants who can make a strong case for admission in relation to a particular project and can demonstrate their potential to satisfactorily complete the course.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your written or visual portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

MA course

The entry requirements for this course will depend on the country your qualifications are from, please check the equivalent qualifications for your country:

• Non-UK equivalent qualifications

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your written or visual portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

MA course with Integrated International Pre-Masters course

• A recognised bachelor degree or 3 year diploma with a strong portfolio in a relevant subject.

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

For this course we will need to see your written or visual portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.

English language requirements

To study at UCA, you'll need to have a certain level of English language skill. And so, to make sure you meet the requirements of your course, we ask for evidence of your English language ability, please chcek the level of English language required:

• English language requirements