Game Design with a Foundation Year

Game design is the creative and intellectual discipline concerned with how video games are conceived, structured, and brought to life. It encompasses the design of gameplay systems, levels, and mechanics, the narrative and storytelling elements that give games meaning and engage players emotionally, the visual and audio design that creates the game's world, and the technical foundations that make the designed experience run. Where games programming is primarily about code, game design is about what the code is meant to achieve, and the two disciplines work in close collaboration in any professional studio.

At Keele University, this four-year full-time BA, which includes a foundation year, is designed to nurture your creativity alongside your technical awareness and your understanding of the video games sector. You will study across game art, audio, narrative design, and storytelling, supported by core game design modules and the option to draw from computer science and sound design as the degree progresses. The foundation year provides a supported entry into degree-level study, ensuring that you arrive in the main programme with the preparation you need to engage with demanding creative and technical content.

The degree develops your ability to apply creative talent across all dimensions of the game design process, building both the conceptual and practical skills that the professional games industry requires. With a typical entry tariff of 104 UCAS points, the programme is accessible to students with genuine gaming passion and creative ambition.

Game design graduates work across the games industry and adjacent creative sectors. Game designer, level designer, narrative designer, art director, and UX designer for games are all natural roles. The broader creative and analytical skills developed during the degree are also relevant in digital media, interactive design, film, animation, and experience design outside games.

Many graduates build careers that combine specialist games work with broader creative practice. Postgraduate study in game design, digital media, or related fields is available for those who wish to go deeper.