Games Design BA Honours

This module introduces you to the practice and production of 2-dimensional (2D) game development. You will consider some of the principles used to develop 2D games. Look at the concepts and methods used to create 2D assets to match a games design brief, including those used to create retro styles such as pixel art.

This module introduces you to the practice and production of 3D computer and video games art. You will consider some of the principles and methods used to create objects as assets for game environments. To do this, you will look at simple briefs and consider the different ways in which a brief for a game can be interpreted creatively. You will then learn how to use 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional tools to create 3D game assets in response to a brief.

This module introduces you to the foundations of programming and computational thinking as creative tools for designing interactive experiences. You'll explore how logic, structure, and simple systems can support the development of playful, expressive, or exploratory digital work. Through guided workshops and creative tasks, you'll learn key programming concepts such as variables, functions, control structures, and events. These fundamentals will be used to develop small interactive behaviours and prototype ideas, enabling you to apply design thinking and iterative problem-solving to technical challenges. The module emphasises experimentation, play, and the creative potential of code. You'll develop confidence in applying coding principles to generate interactive elements, respond to user input, and refine work through testing and iteration. Seminars will also explore cultural, ethical, and accessibility considerations within computational design.

This module introduces students to the foundational creative and professional principles of games art and design. It provides a shared understanding of how visual, structural, and interactive elements combine to shape player experience. Students will analyse existing board and tabletop games to understand the relationship between aesthetics, mechanics, and narrative. They will then design, prototype, and document an original board game that responds to a UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), developing creative confidence through practical making and playtesting. Through this the module encourages curiosity, experimentation, and reflection on how games can communicate values and support positive social change. Alongside this the module will prepare students to engage with the professional environment of the games industry. Students will explore the roles, skills, and career pathways within games, and develop early professional materials such as a CV, online presence, and reflective career plan.

This module introduces you to the design and implementation of mechanics within a game engine. You will consider the role of game design in the game development pipeline, and explore the principles and methods used to create mechanics within a game. To do this, you will look at a client brief and use this to develop a simple game-related artefact. You will also consider how to adapt a design to make it accessible for a diverse range of users.

This module is an introduction to working with 2D animation software. It will give you an overview of the various applications of 2D modelling and animation, as well as an understanding of 2D aesthetics. A series of workshops will introduce you to the skills needed to create your own 2D assets, and you will practice animating a 2D rig. These workshops will be the building blocks you need to develop your own concept for a 2D asset or animation. 

This module introduces you to the creative and professional practice of concept art across games, film, and related creative industries. You will develop your ability to communicate visual ideas through a range of traditional and digital techniques while exploring the role of research, iteration, and presentation in visual storytelling. You'll investigate how historical, cultural, and global perspectives shape visual languages and production contexts, and how awareness of inclusion, representation, and audience can inform creative choices. Through workshops, research-led visual studies, and iterative creative projects, you will produce original concept work that demonstrates both creative intent and contextual understanding.

This module is designed to open up speculative enquiry and creative exploring of drawing approaches. Learning on this module is transferable and interdisciplinary offering a range of practical workshops and projects to widen the potential of possibilities in drawing practice and deepen your understanding of visual design and image-making.

This module introduces you to core game development concepts of level design and environment art. You will consider some of the principles and methods used to design a level for a game and then concept and develop the game assets used to build the environment. To do this, you will look at simple briefs and consider the different ways in which a brief for a game can be interpreted creatively.

This module aims to introduce you to the joy of typography. It introduces the concepts, approaches, cultural and technological developments relating to typography. You will explore issues including type as visual message, contemporary contexts and perspectives, and the role of typography in digital media. Workshops and projects give you an understanding of how to employ typographical structures to present the written word.

This module introduces you to the full development life cycle of video games, looking at the development and management processes required to create a computer game as a team. You'll work in a group to develop a game based on a live industry brief, utilising a carefully managed production cycle. This rigorous approach is central to the skill set of contemporary professional game designers and artists. This module is also designed to prepare you for life after graduation which includes building a sustainable career in the games and creative industries. From developing CVs and career portfolios to understanding intellectual property rights, this module equips you with the knowledge and professionalism required to thrive in their future careers. This work may also be used as a springboard to work experience or a work placement (also possible to take as a sandwich year). You will be given guidance and support in finding, and applying for, an appropriate work placement.  

This module introduces students to the narrative traditions of the video game industry, with a focus on the use of interactive stories and text-based games to give players a sense of agency. It compares the nature of these works with more traditional narrative forms, and introduces concepts of narrative mechanics, narrative choice and consequence, and audience agency. Students will learn to develop ideas and designs in response to gameplay and narrative requirements, and then develop them from the concept stage through to full digital artefacts.

This module will look at the key game design issue of crafting an immersive gameplay experience. The module will start by looking at level designs and ways to immerse the player, such as engaging sound design and environmental storytelling. Then, the module will delve into the considerations that need to be made for user experience and accessibility when designing for different platforms and a diverse audience. Finally, you will design and develop a prototype for your own small immersive game.

This module introduces you to the applied technical and creative skills necessary to design and develop prototypes that demonstrate the functionality of game mechanics and systems. You will deploy rapid prototyping to plan and develop engaging game mechanics in modern game engines. You will also consider wider systems design, incorporating the analysis of player data, to design engaging systems with considered rates of progression, resource acquisition and achievement for players.

Visual Identity and branding are key areas of engagement for visual designers. Branding employs design solutions to bring recognition to a wide range of companies, organisations, products, services and causes - providing users with meaningful ways to access and interact with them.In this module, you will consider some of the principles and methods behind visual Identity and branding. The module will introduce design research methods towards the construction of a brand identity and will look at branding from historical and contemporary positions. Through a combination of research, academic writing and design processes, you'll explore the dual sides of branding as both a generator of potent narratives and the impetus behind problematic consumerism, evoking related social contexts and the responsibility of the designer's role in this. As technologies and new user experiences are increasingly embedded within branding and visual identities, the module opens areas of creative exploration to complement physical, spatial and conceptual outcomes.

This module develops your creative and technical understanding of character and creature design within the context of games and related creative industries. You'll explore how anatomy, form, silhouette, and visual style contribute to personality, narrative, and gameplay. Through research, sketching, and iterative design, you'll generate ideas that can be taken from concept art to a resolved visual piece. Working with both traditional and digital techniques, you will develop awareness of cultural influences, representation, and inclusivity in design practice. The module encourages critical reflection on how different artistic and cultural traditions inform the design of characters and creatures, and how concept artists contribute to visual world-building across genres and media.

This module enables you to create a modern piece of interactive media in the form of a website, while also expanding your knowledge of the theories and practices common to the production of interactive media. Through definition and research, you will develop an exciting and unique website project concept, using creative technologies to produce a final professional product. The final prototype website will be developed using current industry digital tools.

Through immersive technologies, creatives have new opportunities to create interactive and immersive experiences, exhibit work at any scale and bridge distances between audiences and artistic experiences. This module will focus on the different aspects of designing for extended reality, while learning about the development of immersive arts as a medium and exploring the ways in which emerging technologies are being utilised by contemporary artists for the exploration of new digital realms. Within this module, you'll be provided with an academic space to creatively explore a range of emerging technologies suited for producing immersive VR and AR experiences.

You'll be exposed to software and hardware relevant for VR and AR, and a selection of workshops will form the framework for creative enquiry and exploration. You'll have the option to explore either AR or VR-based production approaches in your final project, depending on individual interests, with both pathways supported in the workshop course. Within the assessment, there is scope to be experimental, speculative, or applied within the exploration of immersive technology.

This module provides you with the opportunity to explore stop-motion animation practices, including puppet animation, sand or paint on glass, pixilation, cut-outs, time-lapse etc. You'll complete a self-negotiated animation, working either individually or in a group, through a process of negotiation with tutors and peers.

This module gives you an introduction to the use of visual effects (VFX) for film and games. The module will explore digital aesthetics and creating digital workflows, and the software used to create VFX. Technical support will be available through live demonstrations and online support. When possible, external lectures by industry professionals will enhance your learning on this module. You'll have a varied set of digital experiences when you start the module, so teaching and learning activities will be adapted to suit both those who require extra support, and those who are already familiar with the core software and wish to improve their knowledge and experience.

In this module, you will explore key principles and theories of narrative. You will be invited to discuss a range of traditional and contemporary applications for visual narrative. Through practical projects, you will examine basic narrative structure, the role of character, environment, action, time, technology, culture and audience interaction in the storytelling process.

This module provides students with the experience of working collaboratively to produce a small, commercially releasable game. In defined specialist roles, students engage with advanced game production workflows, creative technologies, and professional communication practices that align with contemporary industry standards. Teams take a project from concept to release-ready completion, incorporating planning, documentation, prototyping, scheduling, testing, iteration, and final deployment. Students refine their specialist identity, evaluate their evolving practice, and develop professional communication and networking strategies in preparation for future employment or postgraduate study. The module emphasises teamwork, technical and creative confidence, critical evaluation, and an understanding of how individual contribution strengthens the game production pipeline and the quality of the final artefact.

This module enables you to explore experimental, innovative, and speculative approaches to game design through the creation of an original game artefact. You will push boundaries in mechanics, interaction, narrative, and player experience while engaging critically with contemporary design practices and emerging technologies.

Alongside creative experimentation, the module supports you in articulating your professional identity through a structured portfolio planning process. You will review your strengths, identify areas for further development, and position your practice within the wider games industry.

Workshops and seminars explore alternative design methods, research-driven practice, production pipelines, documentation, iterative prototyping, and approaches to innovation. You are encouraged to take creative risks and use experimentation as a method of discovery, reflection, and design development.

This module enables you to design and produce a major original game artefact accompanied by a critical written research text. You will independently research, plan, prototype, and refine an advanced project that demonstrates technical skill, creative ambition, and deep understanding of game production pipelines.

The written research component requires you to critically examine contemporary cultural, ethical, political, social, or ecological issues in games and situate your practical work within these broader contexts.

The module emphasises independence, critical inquiry, rigorous design practice, and the ability to evaluate game design through academically informed criteria.

This module offers the space for a research-led critical enquiry into a topic connected to your area of creative practice. Including a research presentation and a short academic essay, you will undertake a self-directed investigation into a key aspect of the discourse specific context that surrounds your visual output. Researching and writing about contemporary concerns that frame visual culture will provide a path to a more critical approach to studio practice. This module will be of particular interest to students who may be considering a postgraduate degree.

This module gives you the opportunity to plan and produce a complete character performance (animated or sequential) to industry standards. The module puts a strong emphasis on self‐directed processes and developing your individual and personal creative approach to the visualisation of your character's performance. You are expected to expand your aesthetic range, make imaginative use of software/tools, and produce a character performance that will be a great asset for a showreel and/or portfolio.

The module focuses on collaboration with others from different disciplines, to research, explore and experiment with possibilities for expanding storytelling. Through hands-on workshops and critical provocations, you will explore multi-sensory approaches to interactive storytelling, spatial narratives and installation design. Playfulness, speculation and experimentation are encouraged as you work individually or collaboratively to develop proposals and prototypes for a narrative experience.

This module will support you in researching and planning your postgraduate employment journey, whether as a freelancer or by starting a small business in the media, creative, and related digital industries. Through the module, you will develop an awareness of commercial opportunities and learn how to focus your entrepreneurial skills on a chosen field – learning how to develop business ideas and how to present and pitch them effectively. You'll develop a plan to create a start-up business or become a freelancer, learning about personal branding, marketing, project management, budgeting, sustainability, and building an online presence along the way.

This module encourages you to engage with experimental practice as a form of inquiry and research. You will explore creative processes that push beyond traditional subject-disciplined techniques and methods, embracing risk-taking, innovation, and interdisciplinary approaches. Through practice-based investigation, you'll be challenged to develop work that questions boundaries, explores new territories, and opens alternative ways of thinking about your subject discipline and its role in contemporary culture.

In this module, you will explore the opportunities and creative challenges of publishing in various printed formats, ranging from low-fi to luxury, including zines, booklets, magazines, art books, and books. You will be required to pitch, design, and publish an outcome that incorporates writing, illustration, photography, design, typography, and layout, expressed across a range of possible materials and processes. Working in multidisciplinary groups, you will fill all roles needed to conceive, develop, populate, and produce a publication that channels your personal voice, complemented by an appropriate design and format for a specific audience. Skills covering technical, project management, writing, and creative branding components will be supported. The final publication will be an excellent addition to any portfolio.