Curious about studying Game Design with Foundation Year - BA (Hons)at Birmingham City 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 Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
City Centre Campus (The Curzon Building)
Full Time
Sep 2027
4 Year
Dream of designing the next big game? Our BA (Hons) Game Design course offers the perfect platform to turn your vision into reality. You’ll learn the art of crafting engaging game narratives, mechanics, and world-building in a creative and supportive environment. We focus on providing a balance between artistic vision and technical proficiency to ensure you’re industry ready. You will have access to industry standard design software and tools. Engaging with professionals and participating in events like game design workshops will further enhance your skills. This course is your gateway to a career in game design, where imagination meets technical skill to create immersive gaming experiences. The course is also supported by top-tier design studios, ensuring you learn with the most advanced tools in the industry. Our dedicated design lab features high-end computers equipped with leading software for game design and development, including Adobe Creative Suite, Maya, and ZBrush. Interactive workshops and guest lectures from industry leaders offer unique insights into the game design process. These collaborations facilitate networking opportunities, enhancing your learning experience, and preparing you for a successful career in the gaming industry.
Foundation YearThis Foundation Year provides an additional year of study designed to strengthen your creative, technical and academic foundations, giving you the confidence and skills needed to progress successfully onto your chosen degree. You’ll learn in a supportive, energetic environment where you can broaden your knowledge, develop practical skills and explore your creativity through a variety of projects. These activities are designed to build your academic ability, enhance your professional communication skills and encourage you to experiment beyond your current creative experience. Throughout the year, you’ll take on projects that challenge you to think differently, helping you expand both your technical capabilities and your critical understanding. After successfully completing the Foundation Year, you’ll also have the flexibility to switch to a related undergraduate degree if you decide to take your studies in a new direction.
The purpose of this module is to give students the opportunity to gain an understanding of the basic foundations of game design and game engines. Students will get a basic look at game design through various lenses and learn how to demonstrate and analyse ideas. Students will then move onto laying out and prototyping game levels in game engine.
The Foundation Mathematics module provides the basic knowledge and mathematical skills which will equip the students to continue their studies to an undergraduate programme. The module will be focused on mathematics related to the field of computing. The interactive taught sessions will use fundamental mathematical in discussions to broaden understanding of the theory and practice introduced in the module. Additional support materials will be made available on the module Moodle website. Student engagement in the employment of interactive classroom activities and discussions will build the required confidence in maths This will enable students on this module without a strong background in mathematics to work at this level in fundamental mathematics.
During the journey within higher education, developing your independent study is an essential skill to support shaping the knowledge to become more useful and applied within practice. This module aims to provide you with necessary skills and tips that should support you to work independently within your discipline and to successfully apply project management tools and techniques to a mini project related to your subject discipline. Within the module, various tutorials will encourage the elements or creativity, innovation and thinking. The skills developed from this module acts as a foundation both towards subjects within your discipline, and more importantly, your final year’s project in Level 6. This module will be supported with 2hrs of extra module support session.
The purpose of this module is to give you the opportunity to learn the fundamental concepts and approaches to researching and designing digital art and apply them to digital art tools. You will learn through using industry standard practice and tools. The practical nature of the module will enable you to apply knowledge gained and in applying the art theory, you will have to examine a range of foundational art techniques required by all creative industries such as colour, perspective, structure, form and composition.
This module, focused on emerging technologies, will provide you with an understanding of the latest advancements and trends in Computing and their applications. Through discussions, practical examples, and hands-on activities, you will gain knowledge and insights into how emerging technologies are shaping the digital landscape and the world. You will appreciate the importance of staying updated with technological advancements to develop your professional career, and your professional development. You will learn essential topics such as human-centred design, and its application in the context of problem solving and innovation. You will understand how studying digital technologies requires an awareness of the ethical and societal implications associated with their use. You will reflect on how these emerging technologies contribute to the wider field of Computing, how they are applied and provide opportunities and challenges to the practice of your course and your professional career.
Foundations of Programming aims to provide you with the fundamental principles and practice-based activities needed to begin developing software programs. The module details the anatomy of a structured software program that includes the creation of a program algorithm, a logical, simple, and organised program flow and the generation of pseudo and programming code. The module uses a combination of theory and practice-based sessions designed to engage students in group and individual activities to identify the components of a software program and to apply their knowledge into hands-on software programming activities. During the module sessions you will acquire the basic skills to design and create software programs. This module will be supported with 2hrs of extra module support sessions.
This foundational module introduces you to the essential programming languages and tools needed for game development. Over the course of the semester, you will learn through a series of practical assignments and projects that challenge you to apply coding principles to create basic game functionalities.
Focusing on the creation and manipulation of 3D game assets, this module equips you with skills in using industry-standard 3D modelling software. Through hands-on workshops and guided tutorials, you will learn the techniques of modelling, texturing, and lighting, essential for building visually appealing game environments and characters. The module promotes not only technical skills but also artistic insight, critical for professional game development.
This module explores the technical aspects of creating and managing game assets efficiently. You will engage with the processes involved in asset integration, from initial design to implementation in game engines. Emphasis is placed on workflow efficiency, version control, and collaboration within teams, reflecting the real-world practices of game development studios.
Understanding and implementing core game mechanics are crucial for any game developer. This module provides a deep dive into the rules and systems that drive game play. You will learn to design and program compelling game mechanics using scripting and visual scripting within popular game engines, ensuring engaging player experiences.
In this module, you'll learn the principles of animation that bring game characters and objects to life. Practical sessions cover a range of animation techniques from keyframing to motion capture application. The focus is on creating smooth and responsive animations that enhance the storytelling and aesthetic value of games.
This module introduces the theories and principles of game design. Through project-based learning, you will develop games that incorporate effective design strategies, learning to balance creativity with player engagement. Topics covered include level design, narrative development, and user interface design, all critical to producing well-rounded game experiences.
Dive into the principles of user interface (UI) design and user experience (UX) scripting, focusing on creating intuitive and player-centric interfaces for games. Learn to implement dynamic UI elements and scripts that enhance gameplay and player interaction.
Learn to swiftly translate game concepts into playable prototypes. This module emphasises iterative design, enabling students to refine gameplay mechanics and aesthetics quickly. Techniques covered include sketching, wireframing, and digital prototyping, essential for agile game development environments.
In this module, you'll experience the environment of a professional game studio. Working in teams, you will develop a game from concept to completion, mimicking the collaborative and iterative processes of real-world game development. This module emphasises project management skills, teamwork, and the integration of various game development disciplines.
Learn the art of crafting immersive game worlds. This module focuses on narrative techniques, environment design, and lore creation, providing you with the tools to build compelling and coherent game universes that captivate players.
Engage with cutting-edge VR and AR technologies. This module teaches you to design and develop immersive experiences using the latest hardware and software, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in game technology.
Building on teamwork skills, this module challenges you to work with peers from different specialisations within the game development field. You'll engage in projects that require collaborative planning and execution, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the industry. This module is designed to improve your communication skills, adaptability, and ability to work effectively in diverse teams.
This module focuses on the integration of artificial intelligence in games. You will learn about AI techniques such as pathfinding, decision-making, and machine learning, and how they can be applied to create intelligent behaviours in game characters and environments. The coursework involves practical AI programming tasks that will challenge you to implement these concepts in real game scenarios.
This module delves into the innovative field of virtual production, a technique that blends animation, CGI, and live-action footage. You'll learn to utilise game engine technologies to create real-time, interactive scenes and characters that can be integrated into both games and film. This covers motion capture, real-time lighting and rendering, and virtual cinematography.
Focus on the art of narrative development in games. This module provides tools and techniques for effective storytelling, character development, and plot structuring. Students will craft engaging narratives that drive the player experience and are integral to the game's design. Explore the challenges of branching narratives and non-linear storytelling, crucial for designing games that offer rich, player-driven content
This module is dedicated to the specific challenges and opportunities of developing games for console platforms. You will learn about the technical requirements, development tools, and performance optimisation techniques specific to consoles. Projects will focus on leveraging console hardware features to enhance game functionality and player experience.
The Individual Honours Project is a capstone module that allows you to demonstrate the skills and knowledge you have acquired throughout the course. You will undertake a substantial independent project that involves researching, designing, and developing a novel project. This is an opportunity to showcase your creativity, technical ability, and understanding of professional game development practices.
CDD Grades/points required
Not currently available, please Contact University for up to date information.
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