Games Rules and Play 

The module will invite students to question and debate their assumptions about videogame development and challenge popular stereotypes about the medium. It will introduce students to the history of the digital game and the emergence of a games development theory.

Making Games 

As an introduction to games design, this module explores the underlying structures of games through the development of paper-based prototypes. Core to the principles at work here are definitions of play and games including notions of games as interactive systems, and play as a configurative practice. From this essentialist perspective, students are encouraged to explore and experiment with the very fundamental aspects of games; the rules, the goals and the interrelatedness of what will be considered here as the constituent parts of all games.

Introduction to Game Art 

This module introduces the fundamental technical skills and production process inherent within the games creation process. The focus is upon creating assets that are both aesthetically engaging and technically functional. The production work follows an established iterative pattern of pre-production, production, and review; where students are encouraged to critically reflect upon the work they create throughout the process.

Drawing and Movement for Games 

We ‘draw’ – as in ‘draw out’, to extract information from the world around us, process that information via hand/ eye/ brain coordination and make marks to explore, explain or express our responses to that world. This module will explore what it means to ‘draw’ using both static observations and timed sequences of movement. 

Study Skills 

No matter what a student studies, it is very important for them to feel confident in their intellectual and creative abilities. This module is very specific and detailed in the way it approaches study skills by creating a series of small steps that will cumulatively amount to enhanced confidence.