Games Design

Why choose this course
Our Games Design degree is flexible so you can tailor your studies to your own passions, from 3D modelling, animation, motion capture, concept art and narrative design, to coding, graphics programming, game AI, sound design and visual effects.

• You will have the opportunity to take one of our award-winning Professional Training placements that will prepare you for roles in a broad range of games design jobs and games-facing industries.

• This brand new and exciting course launched in September 2025. You’ll develop the technical and design skills to make your mark in the dynamic games industry. On this hands-on course, we will introduce you to a range of tools so you can bring your ideas into reality. From week one you'll be working on making games in our brand-new games lab with state-of-the-art software and equipment.

• Our multidisciplinary approach, built around a core of coding, game design and animation, maximises your options for employability and career routes in creative and technical roles.

• Studying at the University of Surrey you’ll be based in Guildford, the heart of one of the UK’s largest video games clusters and known as the UK’s ‘Hollywood for video games’.

• Benefit from our industry connections and guest lectures with games developers from across the UK and overseas. You’ll gain practical experience through competitions and live projects, working in teams, making industry connections and building a strong industry-relevant portfolio.

We’re preparing you for the future by integrating AI into every course, building digital skills, confidence and creativity that employers value in tomorrow’s workplace.

What you will study
The course focuses on game design and development, including narratives, environments, characters and mechanics. You will learn how to realise your game ideas using code and game engines in our state-of the art games lab. Students work on gameplay, interactions and playability, enhancing levels with spectacular visual effects and immersive soundscapes.

As one of the newest Games Design courses in the UK, we have been able to design the course to respond to and leverage the latest advances in:

• Games engines

• Real-time rendering technologies

• Games design

• Game art

• Character animation

• Motion capture

• 2D/3D environment design

• 3D modelling and animation

• Realtime VFX

• Real-time virtual environments

• Acting and performance for games

• Narrative design and writing for games

• Game AI techniques

• Level design

• Gameplay programming

• Visual scripting

• Music and sound design for games.

Industry professionals visit the course to guest lecture and share their experiences.

We are also members of The Independent Game Developers’ Association (TIGA), which is the main trade association for games in the UK. As members of TIGA, we aim to give graduates the skills they need to work in the UK’s £7-billion video games industry.

Course Modules

To see the full range of modules for this course please visit our website – the link is under the Course contact details. You will also find full details of the programme, including programme structure, assessment methods, contact hours and Graduate prospects.