Games Design and Art (BA)

Combine the creative side of games design with essential technical knowledge. If you want to make unique new games and take your ambitious ideas into emerging games markets, platforms and spaces, this is the programme for you. You’ll cover design, illustration, character creation, animation and storytelling, as well as coding and digital production. 

• You’ll work in your own studios on campus as part of a vibrant, creative environment designed to mirror the collaborative practices of games companies and the creative industries.
• You’ll learn to apply design-thinking to the creation of brand new games and refine them through research-led creative investigation, making, prototyping and user testing.
• You’ll explore the full spectrum of gaming, including screen-based (video) games, augmented and virtual reality game-making, alongside the physical production of products such as location-based games, board games, card games and escape rooms. You’ll also cover the emerging fields of purposeful games and serious games, and explore how games can be designed to have social impact and cultural significance.
• Throughout your studies you’ll work with your peers in a small, close-knit studio environment. You’ll collaborate and inspire one another, and discover your strengths. You’ll gain a range of skills including illustration, character design and storytelling as well as coding and digital production.

Your course includes:

• Pitching your ideas and prototypes to industry
• Visits to innovative games studios such as Hello Games, Sensible Object, ustwo games and Sennep games
• Visits to game conferences
• Workshops and advice on your projects from industry
• Live projects with progressive organisations looking to utilise game theory and game design such as National Air Traffic Control, IBM and the Royal Society of Public Health
• Showcasing your projects at external events such as our London show and other globally recognised games events
• Testing and gathering feedback on your ideas with real players

As part of your course you can choose to:

• Develop your work skills and industry links by taking a paid year in employment
• Gain a different cultural perspective on your subject by studying abroad for a year

Course structure

• You'll study 6 studio practice modules – one per semester. These are the building blocks of your games practice and will help to develop your research, making and individual games specialism. Alongside these modules you'll undertake 6 smaller modules which frame the context of your game-making in terms of history, theory, contemporary practice, the business of games and professional contexts. 
• In year 2, you’ll choose 1 module from a range of exciting options designed to enhance your own individual games practice. The course structure will encourage you to develop a dynamic and fast-paced process of thinking through making, while gaining lots of product creation and idea testing experience. You’ll work as part of a team as you progress through the course and take on increasingly ambitious projects.

Year 1 overview

You’ll learn the practical skills involved in thinking through making and applied critical design. You’ll learn games history, game theory and more, including:

• The critical and contextual landscape of contemporary game making
• The theory and practical processes behind game making
• How to develop critical making skills
• How to develop your research and design thinking
• 2D and 3D software skills
• Prototyping, testing and reflective evaluation via critiques, feedback and documentation

Year 2 overview

Your second year involves applying industry practice to your games thinking through:

• Systematic reflective documentation and blogging
• Creating a games proposal and developing a design document
• Working in teams to develop an advanced prototype using standard methodologies such as agile and lean UX
• An introduction to the current business for games
• Pitching to industry representatives
• An external facing e3-style showcase

Year 3 overview

You’ll work on a games project, either individually or as part of a group. This involves:

• Using a research-led approach to formulate an idea for a new game
• Creating an innovative and unique games project proposal
• Building a completed game ready for external promotion and launch at shows in Winchester and London

Modules

• The modules outlined provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our course to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand. Find out why, when and how we might make changes.

Year 1 modules
You must study the following modules in year 1:

Game Mechanics

• In the Game Mechanics module, you will delve into the concepts of game mechanics, exploring both mechanics as actions and mechanics as rules. This module combines theoretical understanding with practical application through various hands-on activities.

Game Worlds

• In the Game Worlds module, you will embark on a series of creative projects focused on generating and refining ideas for imaginative worlds and settings. This module combines field trips, workshops, and various design and art methodologies to help you create.

Games Design & Culture

• In the Games Design & Culture module, you will delve into a wide array of cultural studies that have shaped and continue to influence game design. By engaging in "thinking through making," you will explore and respond to these cultural and theoretical inf...

Games as Poems

• In the Games as Poems module, you will explore the use of poetry as a lens for game creation. This approach emphasizes a robust understanding of the basic building blocks of games and ways in which these building blocks can be reconfigured to help player.

Year 2

You must study the following modules in year 2:

WSA Year Abroad

• This non-credit bearing module is a compulsory module designed to provide support and engagement with your WSA tutors if you decide to take the option of a Year Abroad between Part 2 and Part 3 of your degree programme. Your dedicated study abroad coor...

Year in Employment

• The Year in Employment (YiE) is an opportunity for undergraduate students across a range of programmes to undertake a placement year whilst remaining enrolled to the University of Southampton. Students complete their placement after their second year of s...

Careers

• You can use this degree to work in any area of the games industry, or create and market your own games. Thanks to the reputation of our course and our strong links with industry, companies often approach us and offer internships to our students.

Recent examples include:

• A games designer and artist internship at the Royal Society of Public Health - for a prototype of a gamified healthcare app
• An internship with the education technology startup MangaHigh - which led to full-time employment after the student’s game idea was commissioned
• An internship - followed by employment as a games designer and developer on AlphaPutt, an iOS game
• A number of games designer roles within University of Southampton research bids and projects, such as the Southampton General Hospital and Aspire Awards

Your degree can lead to a variety of roles, including:

• Games designer
• 2D or 3D games artist
• Games maker
• User experience/user interaction designer
• Mobile and app designer
• Project manager

We focus on your employability throughout your studies by offering:

• Ongoing advice from tutors with extensive design experience
• Careers events to introduce you to potential employers

Careers services at Southampton

We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022). Our Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise team will support you. This support includes:

• Work experience schemes
• CV and interview skills and workshops
• Networking events
• Careers fairs attended by top employers
• A wealth of volunteering opportunities
• Study abroad and summer school opportunities