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Game Design

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Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Game Design offers dynamic and multidisciplinary education in game design and development. The program is based on the principle that successful games are crafted through a blend of imaginative storytelling, cutting-edge technology, and artistic vision. The blend of skills in these areas culminates in engaging interactive digital and analog experiences that have the power to entertain, educate, and inspire.

Students in the Game Design major (GDM) study general game design principles, broad skills across the many disciplines of game design, and specialize in one focus area of interest that best suits their passions and career interests. These three areas are: Game Art, Game Computing, and Game Worlds. The focus areas reflect the major sub-disciplines within game design and allow students to develop mastery in one possible career path. Students across these focus areas share core courses that cover game design thinking, career development, game analysis, prototyping, and a capstone project studio in their final year, which they dedicate to producing a collaborative capstone project. Throughout their coursework, students gain individual and multidisciplinary team-based experience in iterative design individually and in multidisciplinary teams. Graduates leave with a portfolio of skills and games that prepare them for a range of careers in the game industry and adjacent allied fields.

The GDM brings together the artistry of game design elements, the mechanics of gameplay, and the technology of creation. A Bachelor of Science in Game Design is brought together, and Iowa State University provides the tools and knowledge you need to turn your creativity into reality.

Student Learning Outcomes

After successfully completing the Game Design major, students will be able to:
1. Understand principles of game design thinking, including genre, formal elements, dramatic elements, and system dynamics
2. Explain how human and social contexts shape game development and the impact of games
3. Employ appropriate technology, including hardware and software, for game development
4. Communicate and plan effectively within multidisciplinary teams
5. Evaluate user experience in games through play-testing and implement the lessons learned
6. Develop, critique, and analyze game prototypes using methods of game design thinking
7. Create, iterate, and publish finished games as part of a capstone portfolio

Grade Point Requirement

All students majoring in Game Design are required to earn a C- or better in all courses applied toward the degree, including transfer credits.

Game Design Focus Area

Game Design majors must choose at least one Game Design Focus Area. The options are Game Art, Game Computing, or Game Worlds.

Focus Area Description

Game Art will prepare students to solve visual problems in gaming. They will gain skills in drawing, visual design and storytelling, storyboarding, character animation, 3D modeling, and related fields. They will learn how to utilize this knowledge in the game development process.

Game Computing will provide comprehensive knowledge in programming, coding, and creating online digital games as well as skills used in the creation of analog games. Students will gain a profound education in object-oriented programming, data structures, and discrete computational structures which they will be able to apply in game design and development.

Game Worlds will provide students with the skills and knowledge to create meaningful and engaging worlds for games of every scale, understand and design dynamic stories, and comprehend the cultural relevance of the games they play, study, and develop. Within Game Worlds, courses are subdivided into Game Worlds, Narrative Design, and Society. This focus area will support students’ acquisition of the skills to apply cultural lessons to the writing and narrative design of games.

Courses in each Focus Area belong to one of four subcategories:

  • Focus Required
  • Focus Option
  • Interdisciplinary Option
  • Game Exploration

Focus Required courses pertain to the focus area’s core competencies. Focus Option courses allow students to follow their specific career and personal interests within the Focus Area. Interdisciplinary Option courses require you to take courses in a Focus Area other than your own. Game Exploration courses allow discovery in the broader discipline.

Focus Required and Focus Option

Focus Required and Focus Option courses are discipline specific courses necessary to develop the skills and knowledge within that Focus Area. Student study in a Focus Area develops individual skills that students will then bring to team-based, interdisciplinary Game Design projects and professional settings. The Game Design Curriculum sheet has clearly defined prerequisites not listed here for each Focus Area.