Games Design

Games design is a creative and technical discipline concerned with the conceptual, mechanical and experiential aspects of games, whether digital, tabletop, or in other interactive forms. While game development as an industry encompasses programming, art and audio, games design focuses specifically on how games are structured, how they create engaging experiences, how rules and systems generate player behaviour and how the design of a game communicates meaning. It is a field that combines creative vision with systematic thinking, drawing on interaction design, narrative theory, psychology and the principles of visual and experiential design.

The University of Chester offers this three-year full-time games design degree with a sandwich year in industry and an embedded work placement. The programme develops the conceptual and practical skills of game design, including game mechanics, level design, prototyping, playtesting, narrative and world-building, alongside the contextual knowledge of game history, theory and culture that informs serious design practice. You will develop the ability to ideate, iterate and communicate design ideas effectively, and you will build a portfolio of work that demonstrates your design thinking to future employers.

The sandwich year in industry is a substantial opportunity to work within a games or creative technology company, experiencing how design works within professional development pipelines and building the industry connections that are essential in a highly competitive sector.

Games design develops creative problem-solving, the ability to design systems that produce intended experiences, skill in communicating design intent to different audiences, and the resilience to prototype, test and revise ideas until they work.

Graduates pursue careers as games designers, level designers, UX and interaction designers, game producers and in related roles in the games, entertainment technology, simulation and serious games sectors. The design skills developed are also valued in product design, user experience and interactive media more broadly. Postgraduate study in games design, interaction design or related creative technology fields is available for those wishing to develop further.