Bachelor of Science Game Design

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The BS in Game Design prepares students to become storytellers, critical thinkers, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the field of games. Students collaborate in interdisciplinary teams with programmers, artists, and musicians to master the iterative development process and create polished experiences. Students build a portfolio showcasing their skills developing AAA, indie, and art games, as well as transformative play experiences on established and emerging platforms including augmented and virtual reality, tabletop, and physical technology.

DePaul’s game design programs are nationally recognized. We are a 2022 Top Game Design School according to both The Princeton Review and Animation Career Review.

Degree Requirements

Careers

Recent graduates of CDM’s game program have gone on to work at Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, NeatherRealm Studios, Owlchemy Labs, Firaxis, Wargaming, Phosphor Games, and many others.

Several grads have gone on to form their own gaming companies, including Young Horses, whose indie hit Octodad was developed at DePaul.

Game Design Student Reel

DePaul CDM Film Student Reel 
 

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  • Mike DeAnda

    In his research, Mike studies the communication of queer lived experiences and modes of knowledge production through games. He uses game design as research praxis, and designs games that comment on structures of gender and sexuality, envisioning possible interventions to the social injustices uncovered through his research

  • Brian Schrank

    Brian is the author of Avant-gardeVideogames: Playing with Technoculture, and the director of the Virtual and Augmented Design Lab. Most recently, he co-curated the “Hey! Play! Games in Modern Culture” exhibit at the Chicago Design Museum.

  • Allen Turner

    Allen is the former Lead Designer and Game Director at Wideload Games/Disney Interactive Studios. He is a faculty mentor for the Game and Graphic Design programs, a partnership with the Chicago Housing Authority, and the co-director of DePaul Originals Game Studio.

  • Anna Anthropy

    Anna, our Game Designer in Residence, is an independent game designer of both digital and tabletop games, writer, and game historian. Her published books include Rise of the Videogame Zinesters, A Game Design Vocabulary (co-authored with Naomi Clark), and ZZT.

three students around a table working 

DePaul Originals

DePaul Originals is a game development studio located on our Loop campus. Its focus is the production of high quality game experiences that are delivered on commercial platforms.

 

Virtual and Augmented Design Lab

Our Virtual and Augmented Design Lab (VAD) hosts classes and projects to research and develop experimental games on emerging platforms. Current lab works includes AR development with Apple pushing the affordances of the ARKit on iPhone, and a VR game project exploring deformable virtual surfaces via hand and foot trackers.

Students working on a whiteboard  

Matters at Play

Matters at Play (M@P) is a transdisciplinary design lab focused on partnering in the creation of interactive advocacy solutions for positive social transformations - especially regarding social justice, health, and environmental issues. M@P both incubates and launches projects for real-world impact as part of a faculty-student collaborative as well as in the classroom context. Partners include advocacy, government, non-government, and/or academic organizations looking to use interactivity in both digital and analog contexts with the goal of informing and transforming society and its people.

 

Japan Study Abroad

This biennial trip takes students to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nagoya on tours of Japanese game and animation studios, galleries, and cultural sites.

visitors engaging in a fun interaction at an exhibit  

Game Community

At DePaul, it’s not just about the program and classes, but about the connections. There is a strong game community and culture, allowing students to get involved with other students, faculty, and professionals. Students can join one of several game-related student organizations, take part in Train Jam on the way to GDC, tour local game studios, hang out in our gameplay lab, participate in Global Game Jam, or hit the Esports Center.

visitors engaging in a fun interaction at an exhibit  

Student and Faculty Exhibitions

Game Design students and faculty participate in a wide range of exhibitions. Additionally, there are two annual events—a public showcase and a private showcase for industry professionals—where students exhibit games they’ve developed.

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