Curious about studying Computer Games Development with Foundation Year - BSc (Hons)at Bucks New University? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
High Wycombe Campus
Full Time
Sep 2027
4 Year
On our practical BSc (Hons) Computer Games Development degree, you will have the opportunity to gain technical skills and theoretical knowledge to help you become a confident and competent Games Developer.From programming, software design and asset development to character animation, this course will cover the industry latest to help you stay up-to-date, ensuring you’re ready for the working world upon graduation.In the Foundation Year of this four-year course, you’ll build essential academic study skills. This year will help you gain confidence in your abilities. You’ll also identify your strengths and areas for development. Together, these will prepare you for progression to the undergraduate degree.
Why study Computer Games Development at BNU?Industry standard facilitiesOur Game Development programme at BNU offers direct access to professional tools and software used in the industry today. Access to high-performance computers and collaborative workspaces supports your learning and creativity, allowing you to turn your ideas into reality.We are a member of the PlayStation® Vita Academic Development Programme run by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), which provides access to professional console development hardware and software tools.
Hands-on experienceThe course emphasizes practical learning, allowing you to engage in real-world projects and develop games from concept to completion. This experiential learning approach equips you with the skills and confidence to tackle industry challenges head-on. By working on team projects and live briefs, you’ll not only refine your technical skills but also learn to collaborate effectively, mirroring professional game development environments.
Learn from industry expertsYou'll learn from lecturers who bring a wealth of industry experience and academic expertise. Their insights into current trends and practices provide you with a relevant and up-to-date education, bridging the gap between academia and the professional world. They’ll also share their personal experiences and connections, helping you gain a clearer understanding of how to navigate the gaming industry successfully.We are an NVIDIA CUDA Teaching Centre. We are also a member of TIGA, the trade association representing the UK's games industry.
Industry connectionsWe have close ties with a network of industry professionals, providing opportunities for networking, internships, and real-world projects. Guest speakers, live projects, and placement opportunities help you learn directly from industry leaders and gain a competitive edge. These connections, combined with visiting a number of events every year often lead to job offers or further collaborations, giving you a solid foundation for your future career.
What will I study?During the first year you will develop your programming skills (C#) and apply them to the development of 2D mobile and console games and 3D levels within a commercial game engine. Other modules provide a taste of other disciplines in the games industry, including an introduction to games design and 3D modelling. Further modules provide a theoretical and practical understanding of the hardware on which games are deployed.In second year you will continue to develop your programming skills (C++) and apply them to the development of realistic AI and graphical applications using a graphics library.During your third year, you will develop a physics engine and integrate it into a games engine. You will also extend your understanding of the more complex AI techniques used within games and gain an insight into how games companies operate. A major component of the final year is the project, which provides an opportunity to develop a game or related software application.
Foundation Year
This module will teach you foundational programming skills. You’ll learn about data types, variables, control structures, and algorithms. You’ll solve problems, create documented software, and by the end, design and test your own programs, effectively communicating your work.
Foundation Year
This module covers computing fundamentals, you’ll explore data structures, algorithms, computational thinking, databases, and the societal impacts of computing. You’ll learn to store, access, and search data efficiently, solve problems mathematically, design relational databases with SQL, and consider computing’s ethical implications.
Foundation Year
Dive into computer science and discrete mathematics with this module. You’ll tackle mathematical and network algorithms, critical path analysis, linear programming, and game theory. It’s a journey through finite and infinite concepts, preparing you for advanced mathematics and practical computing applications.
Foundation Year
In this module, you’ll delve into human-computer interaction and user-centric design, focusing on human factors and user needs to create immersive products. You’ll also explore computer technologies for creating and distributing digital resources, ensuring they meet diverse media platform requirements.
Foundation Year
In this module, you’ll reflect on and develop professional skills through project production. You’ll enhance your reflective writing, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking, gaining insight into your strengths and areas for growth.
Foundation Year
In this module, you’ll collaborate with other students on a project within your subject’s themes, honing vital professional skills like leadership, interpersonal relations, communication, negotiation, and problem-solving, essential for teamwork in real-world scenarios.
Discover the foundational principles for programming languages. You'll study variables, data types, assignment, conditionals, functions, data structures and the object-oriented paradigm. You'll work with other students on a project to simulate the working environment and will develop your problem-solving and computational thinking skills.
You'll look at principles of computer organisation, the layered nature of systems structures & the interfaces between them. You'll also study: components of a computer, the architecture, how they're organised, hardware, data representation, computer logic circuits, manipulation of data at the bit level & the theory of computation and its paradigms.
Discover the techniques used in the design and creation of video game levels including building, designing & testing 3D game scenarios, using advanced game engines and industry standard tools. You'll study how to generate 3D terrains, import & manipulate 3D models, create & apply textures and special effects and implement basic game play.
Discover the elements of game design. You'll review games history & genres then analyse the anatomy of games & develop your own game concepts, expressed using industry-style documentation. Discussions about different game control systems, player motivations and psychology will establish ground rules for creating immersive game playing experiences.
This module is designed specifically for game developers, not mathematicians, and aims to provide you with maths tools & techniques relevant to 3D games manipulation. To program a more complex game, you must master concepts like matrices & vectors. You'll study solutions for dealing with problems you'll face programming many types of 3D games.
Explore the world of Extended Reality (XR) by developing both AR and VR applications. You’ll learn to create interactive mobile AR experiences and simple VR scenes. This module focuses on user experience, creative design, and technical foundations. Projects include using real-time tools and publishing your work to mobile or headset platforms.
Learn the core skills of 3D modelling, texturing and animation for games. You’ll use industry-standard tools to design characters, environments and props, and explore how assets are optimised and prepared for real-time engines like Unity and Unreal. Projects will focus on technical accuracy and creative visual storytelling.
This creative programming module aims to provide you with practical skills needed to create and manipulate 2D and 3D objects using a Graphical Application Programming Interface. You'll also be introduced to the related topic of shader programming and how these small programs that run on the graphics card can produce customized visual effects.
This module within a practical Integrated development environment (Visual Studio) and using a modern OOP language (C#, C++, Java), will demonstrate how the key techniques of inheritance, polymorphism and encapsulation can be directly applied to produce high quality software systems.
This module aims to provide students with the opportunity to gain experience linked to their intended graduate employment field within the computing and technology sector. Operating as a structured period of work-related learning, students will complete activities, tasks, projects, or live briefs for, at, or in collaboration with an internal or external organisation.
This unit provides you with an opportunity to work on a small project, ideally in a small team but individual projects are possible where appropriate. You may also work with people studying other disciplines. Projects are the basis of much creative work and typically involve pre-production, production and postproduction phases, as well as teamwork.
Build on your knowledge of game design by creating a fully functional VR experience. Using Unity and the XR Interaction Toolkit, you’ll design, test and optimise immersive VR environments like an Escape Room or interactive simulation. You’ll also explore user comfort, interactivity, and the practical skills needed to develop for platforms like Meta Quest.
This practical class aims to provide you with a deeper understanding of high-level programming language. It covers several advanced topics, including object oriented, concurrent and network programming and provides insight into how data is managed in such systems. Practical sessions expose you to industrial software development practices.
This module draws on techniques from the field of Artificial Intelligence to implement the illusion of intelligence within Non-Player Characters. Utilising a commercial games engine, you will develop software that implements complex AI behaviour using multiple coordinated AI techniques that have been proven in a range of high-profile AAA titles.
You'll have the opportunity to carry out an individual in-depth investigation of a topic of interest, and to further develop your skills in research, problem solving and critical analysis. You'll select the project in consultation with your supervisor and may involve a local company. The work will be culminate in a final report and oral defence.
You'll develop a deeper understanding of production process in a simulated workplace. In a team you'll develop a game of your choice using appropriately researched tools, pitch the idea, demonstrate that recognised production techniques have been used in the development process and provide evidence that legal & marketing issues have been addressed.
4.4Bucks New University (BNU) is a student-focused university based in High Wycombe, with over 130 years of educational his...
