BA (Hons) Game Arts and Design

Contact us today to discuss your options and secure your place on one of our courses with vacancies this September.

Find out more about Clearing

Your degree in Game Arts and Design could lead to a career as a game artist, 3D modeler, gameplay coder, level designer, technical game designer, technical artist, producer, or many other roles in the games industry. Your transferable creative and technology skills could also lead to employment as a designer, programmer or producer in other creative and tech industries.

Where could your game design degree take you?

• Learn 3D modelling with industry-standard software like Maya, Blender, ZBrush and Substance Painter.
• Hone your 2D art and animation skills, using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate and After Effects.
• Create epic level designs in Unity and Unreal Engine.
• Develop your coding skills with C# and Blueprints.
• Taught by industry experts, with a focus on preparing you for a career in the games industry.
• Amazing national and international field trips to gaming expos and festivals, such as meeting professionals from top games studios at EGX Rezzed in London and exploring immersive gameplay Amsterdam.
• Explore sound design, narrative and game design theory, and study the psychology of games and gamification.
• Access to the latest hardware, including high-spec gaming PCs and VR headsets.
• Get a head-start in the industry with an optional placement year (for example, one of our students has secured a placement at Criterion Games).
• Get ready for a career as a game artist, 3D modeler, game designer, level designer or gameplay coder, joining Plymouth graduates who have gone on to work at the world's top games companies including Electronic Arts, Frontier Developments and Bossa Studios.
• We annually review the skills, software and hardware we teach, to ensure the course is always up to date.
• Our dedicated lab space is open until 10pm, other amazing facilities, include our 35-seat, 360° immersive vision theatre, VR kits, graphics tablets, game controllers, 3D printers and even an extensive collection of boardgames.
• Teaching and learning are practical and project-based - sometimes working individually, and sometimes in teams.
• Your assessments are 100 per cent coursework – no exams.
• No prior knowledge requirements – we teach everything from the ground up (but if you do already have art and coding skills, we can’t wait to see how much further you can take them with our help!).

• Year 1

• Get straight into learning the art and coding skills you need as a game designer. You are introduced to 2D design and 3D modelling software, game engines and gameplay coding. Bring your drawings to life with animation and interactivity, and create your first 3D models and games. Learn about storytelling and build your own gaming hardware.
  

  Core modules

  • Disruptive Design Strategies (DAT441)

    This module introduces students to practical and creative processes that encourage experimentation and prepare for HE workflows. Through conceptual understanding of artistic practice combined with technical production skills in a range of areas, such as 2D and 3D design, facilitate by industry standard design software.

  • Stage 1 Placement Preparation (FAPY100)

    If you’re undertaking a company placement in your third year, this module helps you find a suitable placement, and prepares you for the placement itself.

  • Introduction to Immersion (GAD442)

    This module introduces issues and techniques involved in designing and developing immersive experiences. Students will be introduced to rapid prototyping to explore a wide range of immersive elements within game design, exploring what immersion is and how the audio-visual elements of video games contribute to worldbuilding and user experience.

  • Game Programming (GAD443)

    This module introduces coding for game designers, explored through the creation of a playful interactive project. Working with programming languages and game engines, students learn to use code to make their drawings and animations come to life with dynamic and interactive behaviours. Key programming concepts such as variables and conditional logic, are introduced alongside relevant game studies topics. Students will apply what they have learnt to solve problems and create engaging gameplay.

  • Interactive Narrative (GAD444)

    You will explore interactive storytelling and animation / sequence creation within your work via a range of traditional and digital media and formats. Storytelling, narrative pacing, creative writing and animation are features of this module. Critical reflective writing underpins practical work.

  • Character and Environment Design (GAD445)

    Students create character and environment concepts as digital paintings, and realise their designs as detailed animated 3D models. Drawing and painting skills are developed, exploring figure, proportion, lighting, colour and anatomy. Students learn advanced modelling and texturing skills using state-of-the-art software platforms, rigging their characters for animation, and exporting them to game engines. In addition, students develop presentation skills and showcase their work in a digital portfolio.

• Year 2

• Master more advanced 3D modelling and game programming techniques, and hone your level design skills. Learn about working in the creative industries from visiting speakers, and work with Illustration students to further develop your drawing skills.
  

  Core modules

  • Creative Industries (DAT502)

    This module explores the dynamic changes that are sweeping through traditional media and communications industries, brought about by the impact of new technologies. It explores, through group production projects, the practical issues underpinning the management of distributed organisations. The module includes an international field trip

  • Virtuality and Immersion (DAT517)

    This module provides a firm introduction to virtuality and immersion augmented reality, virtual reality, and dome environments. During this module, students explore and utilize a range of immersive technologies and design practices on subjects such as scientific simulation, virtual heritage, architectural visualization, and more. Techniques like 3D capture and photogrammetry are also introduced, and a range of resources are provided, such as AR and VR headsets, for developing complete immersive solutions, applications, and artworks. The module is optional, and it is recommended for students that are interested in pursuing specialization on immersive media.

  • Level Design (GAD551)

    This module focuses on designing virtual environments and game levels. Students will consider the ludic and narrative role of level design and apply these to the production of an interactive game environment. Students will be presented with a variety of theoretical frameworks that will help them better understand human cognitive processes and thus aid them in designing and creating more engaging game levels.

  • Game Development (GAD553)

    This module builds on the game development skills learned to this point and applies them to working with a range of different game genres. Students work as individuals or small teams to propose and develop an interactive experience, creating a reflective design journal on the development process. To accompany this, students will research and explore a chosen role within the games industry.

  • Stage 2 Placement Preparation (FAPY501)

    This module is aimed at students who may be undertaking an industrial placement in the third year of their programme or are looking for other work opportunities. It is designed build on the Level 1 module (FAPY100) and to assist students in their search and application for a placement and/or other work experience and in their preparation for the placement itself.

• Placement year (optional)

• An optional paid 48-week work placement offers invaluable practical work experience. We recommend pursuing a placement, as it enhances your final year of study and improves your employability on graduation.
  

  Core modules

  • Digital Art and Technology/Internet Design Placement (FAPY604)

    An extend period of professional training (at least the duration of both teaching semesters - 36 weeks) spent as the third year of a sandwich programme undertaking an approved placement with a suitable company (either a paid placement or unpaid internship). This provides an opportunity for the student to gain relevant industrial experience to consolidate the first two stages of study and to prepare for the final stage and employment after graduation.

• Final year

• Focus on your own particular areas of interest by selecting from a range of optional modules and set your creativity free in your epic final year project.
  

  Core modules

  • Gameplay (DAT663)

    This module develops audio, visual, immersive, and interaction production skills with the specific application to video game design. Students will showcase the developed prototypes at a public games showcase event at the end of term.

  • Final Year Project (GAD631)

    The Final Year Project is student-led, negotiated through close liaison with an allocated supervisor. Students are expected to develop a creative, practical industry-standard project, accompanied with a written work that demonstrates sophisticated research methods, a critical engagement to theoretical discourses and debates, an understanding of production processes, and a developed awareness of markets, audiences, and industrial contexts. The practical element needs to comprise of a significant digital media production that is innovative and experimental in its approach and placed within a contemporary framework. Resources such as software, hardware, and labs, as well as tutorials in research and writing are given to the students to ensure they are fully-equipped to produce a sophisticated result. The final works are exhibited on the Degree Show at the end of the school year.

  Optional modules

  • Realtime (DAT661)

    This module develops audio, visual, immersive, and interaction production skills with the specific application to a public exhibition space with a predefined theme. Students will draw from a variety of sources, disciplines and media that they have explore to this point on the course.

  • Everyware (DAT662)

    Through practical project work the module explores the evolution of the Internet of Things, the emergence of Pervasive Media and the application of Physical Computing. Projects are framed within a critical exploration of space as a cultural, social and technological phenomenon and models of architecture, communities and personal identity.

  • Venture Culture (DAT664)

    This module introduces students to the concepts of entrepreneurship through the practical exploration of individual, collaborative and organisational creative enterprise. Operating as a pragmatic vehicle for generating new ventures within the creative industries, the formation of prototype companies enables students to rehearse the commercialisation of their practice.

Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and may be subject to change:

BA Hons Game Arts and Design programme specification 5837

UCAS tariff

96 - 120