Design is all around us. It shapes our experience with everything we use, interact with, or play. What makes those interactions fun, useful, or engaging? How can we design systems to allow users to get the most fun, the most enjoyment, the greatest payoff? How do we provide the best value for the user’s investment of time and energy?

The Bachelor of Arts in Game Design helps you create compelling interactive systems — from sophisticated user interfaces to polished games and applications. In addition to extensive design coursework, you’ll delve deep into psychology, communications, and user experience with an eye for crafting powerful experiences.

Who Should Pursue This Degree?

Do you find yourself not only enjoying games but thinking deeply about them as you play? Are you the kind of person who feels compelled to ask, ‘How would I make this even better?’ The BA in Game Design program is for creative-minded students who are deeply curious to understand the behavior and psychology behind games and eager to learn the skills and methods for designing fun and engaging interactive systems. Throughout the program, students spend a significant amount of time prototyping, testing, and rapidly developing many different game ideas, all while studying a diverse range of topics. If you like the idea of constantly putting yourself in the player’s shoes and skillfully blending the mechanical, spatial, and narrative aspects of the game experience, then the BA in Game Design program may be a good fit for you.

As a student in this program, you will:

• Design Original Games and Applications

  Work as a designer on interdisciplinary teams to create polished game experiences with original systems and mechanics.

• Learn How to Rapidly Prototype Your Ideas

  Master the cycle of design, user testing, and iteration to ensure your work products are intuitive and effective.

• Study Human Behavior from a Variety of Lenses

  Learn about psychology, storytelling, and other subjects as they relate to interactive media and user experiences.

Academic Roadmap

Similar to a video game skill tree, the BA in Game Design program lets you specialize in the areas that match your strengths and interests. Check out our “DigiPen Game Design Disciplines, Explained” series to get a rundown on each of our six concentrations:

In the first two years, you’ll take introductory courses in all six aspects of design. By the start of your junior year, having learned about each track, you’ll select two specialization tracks in which to pursue your advanced design studies. Throughout the program, you’ll also take coursework in cognitive psychology, scripting languages, economics, and communications, as well as a sampling of courses involving math, art, music, and basic computer science as they relate to the work of professional designers. On top of this, you’ll collaborate with your peers — and across disciplines — on a series of semester- and year-long game projects.

View a sample course sequence

Admissions Requirements

The BA in Game Design program is ideal for students with a strong foundation in writing, communications, and psychology. In addition to all the standard admissions requirements for undergraduate students, your application to the BA in Game Design program must also include a design portfolio that demonstrates your prior creative work and the processes used to make it.

View all requirements

Topics Covered

Students in the BA in Game Design program will focus on the following subjects:

• Game design and development, including game mechanics and history, design documentation, scripting and programming, 2D and 3D level design, character design, playtesting, interface design, product management, and team game project implementation.
• The humanities and arts, including writing, psychology, film, audio, architecture, drawing, and 2D and 3D art, with the option to study advanced topics in these areas.
• Foundational math and science courses, including the fundamentals of scripting languages, mathematics, and physics.