Master of Fine Arts
Game Design
Overview
The
MFA in Game Design is for creative visionaries intent on producing socially, culturally, and emotionally substantial work. The degree prepares students to advance the frontier of games by exploring emerging theories and applying them to practice. The games students create throughout their degree will be challenged by peers and faculty in critiques. Graduates of the program will be equipped to define and realize their authentic, thriving professional lives. An MFA is also a terminal degree that opens opportunities to teach at the university level and enter an academic tenure-track career.
Game Capstone
Showcases
There are two annual June events for students to showcase the games they've developed as their thesis projects over the previous five months. The first showcase is for the general public including family, friends, and peers. The second, private showcase is for industry professionals to come meet students play their games, and recruit our top talent.
Design Impact Projects
These projects enable students to imagine, develop, and deploy cutting-edge visual and interactive designs that positively impact individuals and communities using emerging social practices, technologies, and entrepreneurial thinking. Every spring quarter students are invited to pitch their plan to develop and publish a game to be completed over the summer. Winner receive advising support, workspace, and stipends ranging from $500-$5000.
Play for Change
Play for Change is a cross-disciplinary design, research, development, and assessment game lab hosted by the College of Computing and Digital Media. We make and evaluate games, interactive documentaries and transmedia projects that aim to promote personal and social change. Our work builds bridges between students and faculty, academia and industry, producers and users, an different departments within DePaul.
Visiting Designer Series
The Visiting Designer Series invites leading designers who have created innovative responses to the personal, local, and global challenges of the 21st century. The series prepares students to imagine, develop, and deploy cutting-edge visual and interactive designs that positively impact individuals and communities using emerging social practices and technologies. It serves as a platform for networking and idea exchange between students, faculty and industry professionals, facilitating the incubation of new ideas and collaborations. Talks are open and free to the public.
Inflatable Reality
Inflatable Reality is a research lab and art group that blends performance with experimental technologies to create comedic and compelling game experiences. They build games on platforms such as VR, AR, and Apple Watch as readily as with hammers, duct tape, and coffee cups. Breaking conventional boundaries between art, science, and entertainment, their award-winning work advances the medium of games through talks and exhibitions in art galleries, conferences, and festivals. Dumpy: Going Elephants was developed as part of Inflatable Reality.
The
Game and Animation Industry Tours and Game Jam is a two week program that takes students on tours of Japanese game and animation studios as well as to prominent cultural sites, events, galleries, and museums. Meeting professionals in the game and animation industries teaches students about Japanese creative practices, workplace dynamics, and company structures. Students participate in a two day game jam collaborating on cross-disciplinary teams with Japanese college students also pursuing careers in game development and animation. The
Rapid Prototyping Summer School is held at Abertay University in Scotland. Abertay is one of Europe's top ranked universities for game design and is home to industry leaders 4J Studios, Outplay, Denki Games, Reagent Games, Ninja Kiwi, and YoYo Games. This five week program combines lectures, workshops, and industry visits, ending with an academic game conference and the Dare to Be Digital game festival.
DeFRAG Club
DePaul's Fundamental Research in Academic Gaming, or DeFRAG, focuses on computer and console games and game development. This club is for game enthusiasts at any point in their education. DeFrag hosts a wide variety of events each quarter in order to educate about game development, inspire competition in gaming, or just to have a good time with other students.