Computer Games Design
Create and produce games from day one. Enjoy hands-on experiences at gaming events, submit your work to national competitions such as Tranzfuser, and connect with industry experts. Use top-quality labs with Unreal Engine and Adobe Suite and build your network within the games industry .
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Key Course Details
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UCAS Code
WGF4
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Start Date
September
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Location
Cardiff
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Campus Code
B
Fees
Home students
£9,535*
International students
£15,850*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Launch your game design career with a BA (Hons) in Computer Games Design. Build your creative and technical skills to design, develop and take your own games to market.
DESIGNED FOR
If you're passionate about games and ready to join the industry, this course is made for you. Channel your creativity and entrepreneurial drive while adopting professional practices in both your attitude and projects. Let your enthusiasm guide you as you transform your gaming visions into reality.
Partnerships
Career Paths
- Game Designer
- Level designer
- Programmer
- User interface (UI) / user experience (UX)
- Writer/producer
- Tester
Skills taught
- Game design
- Programming
- Project planning
- Project management
- Pitching techniques
- Teamwork
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Course Highlights
Module Overview
Juggle your creative and technical skills from day one. Master design through hands-on projects and studio work, explore gaming culture and learn industry standards. Build essential technical skills, understand ethical issues, and develop your research and communication for a successful career.
Year One
Building Worlds
Making Games
Level Design
Games Studios One
Design Challenges
Year Two
Experimental Games
Professional Practice
Content Creation Techniques
Game Studies Two
Year Three
Games Prototypes
Games Production
Dissertation
Portfolio
Start by exploring the essentials and creating games immediately. In your first six weeks, you'll craft your debut game and build at least three by year’s end. With practical modules on Level Design, Game Mechanics and World Building, you’ll blend creativity with technical skills from the start.
Building Worlds
Create digital prototypes and explore game structures, mechanics and narratives. Experiment with rules and aesthetics while developing, pitching and producing games through projects.
Making Games
Develop and produce a game in groups, focusing on mechanics and iterative design. Use research, experimentation and feedback. Boost skills through studio work and an immersive project.
Level Design
Explore game design theory with hands-on engine work. Create levels by focusing on planning, playtesting and iterative design. Develop and showcase through independent and joint learning.
Games Studios One
Explore theory and practice in Game Studies. Research, debate and analyse games to understand development and culture. Develop critical skills for academic and practical insights.
Design Challenges
Develop skills in evaluating and solving design problems with a focus on player-centric design. Communicate game concepts through practical exercises and real-world challenges.
It’s time to tackle sophisticated projects with live briefs, creating polished, pitch-ready games for industry pros. Explore areas like Systems and Mechanics or Game Asset Production, and deepen your understanding of design theories. Specialise in your areas of interest to prepare for your final year.
Experimental Games
Push the boundaries of game design by exploring innovative gameplay, new tech and unique themes. Create a playable demo from a brief, focusing on originality and practical execution.
Professional Practice
Create a game based on a client brief, working in teams and collaborating with other courses. Develop professionalism and industry-relevant skills by learning how to pitch and present to industry veterans.
Content Creation Techniques
Master game content production with a focus on workflows and engine pipelines. Balance aesthetics, creativity and technical limits through hands-on exercises.
Game Studies Two
Explore advanced game studies through research and debate. Engage in critical discussions, develop intellectual arguments, and refine your research skills with peer and staff guidance.
The final year is your time to shine! You'll prototype and produce a professional-level game, creating standout work for your portfolio. Learn how to showcase your skills, apply for jobs, and nail interviews. Your dissertation will let you deep dive into a game design topic you're passionate about.
Games Prototypes
Explore and experiment to develop a functional game prototype, focusing on core mechanics, player experience and style. Develop prototypes and design docs, using your skills and self-directed learning to prepare for your career.
Games Production
Complete and publish your game, focusing on your production strengths. Document design choices, manage project scope and create a portfolio-ready game with promotional materials for public display.
Dissertation
Research a game design topic of interest, exploring key issues and debates. Present a well-reasoned, original argument, using evidence or practice-based insights.
Portfolio
Reflect on your achievements and career goals. Build your CV, portfolio and LinkedIn profile. Attend career events, seek advice and prepare for job interviews in the industry.
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
You’ll jump straight into hands-on learning with group projects, practical workshops and presentations. Expect a mix of lectures, tutorials, and studio time to sharpen your skills. You’ll also work on your portfolio, complete real-world projects and go on field trips. Assessments will include group work, essays and presentations, with regular feedback to guide your growth.
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Teaching staff
The teaching staff on the BA Computer Games Design course will help you grow your skills through hands-on, industry-focused projects. They will guide you in developing your creative and technical abilities and connect you with industry professionals. In your final year, you'll work on a major project with their support through workshops and seminars. The staff focus on real-world experience and industry connections, ensuring you understand your work in the wider context. Your course leader, experienced with tools like Unreal Engine, provides valuable expertise to support your learning.
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Placements and work experience
At USW, you'll get real-world experience through collaborative, team-based projects. You’re encouraged to find placements during vacations or term time. The Professional Project module supports these placements with live briefs, and the Grad Edge scheme offers extra support and recognition. In your second year, the Professional Practice module features live-brief projects. By your third year, the Tranzfuser scheme allows the opportunity to develop work for the UK Games Fund competition.
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Facilities
At USW’s Cardiff campus, you’ll find cutting-edge facilities and a passionate team ready to help you bring your creative ideas to life. As a computer games design student, you’ll have access to industry-standard labs with tools like Unreal Engine, Unity, Autodesk Suite, and Adobe Suite. You’ll work with cutting-edge technology, including Nvidia RTX graphics cards, ultra-wide monitors, and VR kits. Plus, our cloud-based source control system ensures you can easily collaborate with peers, whether you’re in the lab or working from home.
Equipment
At our Cardiff Campus we have a vast range of equipment that you will be trained to use as part of your course. To help support your studies we have a Media Loans facility that allows you to hire the equipment, at no cost, for you to then use for your assignments and practical work. We have both basic and high-end film and photography cameras, portable lighting and sound equipment as well as a range of professional studio recording microphones, instruments and associated equipment to use in our music studios or on location. The team of technical officers and instructors are also available to help you with any queries and technical issues.
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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
UCAS points: 96 (or above)
Typical qualification requirements:
- A Level: CCC to include a relevant art and design subject
- Welsh BACC: Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales Grade C and CC at A Level with a relevant art and design subject
- BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Merit Merit Merit in a relevant subject
- Access to HE: Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 96 UCAS tariff points
- T Level: Pass (C and above)
Additional requirements include:
The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
International applications welcomed:
We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.
English language requirements
International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.
Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.
If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.
If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.
USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.
We're here to help
Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.
Fees and Funding
£9,535
per year*£15,850
per year*Additional Costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
* Obligatory
Cost: £50 - £100
Cost: £50 - £100
Cost: £1500 - £2000
Cost: £100 - £150
Cost: £50 - £100
Cost: £0 - £100
Media Loans
You can hire a range of equipment, for your assignments and practical work, for free from our Media Loans facility.
Media LoansUniversity Quality Assurance
At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.
If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.
Top in UK
Animation and Game Design at USW is top for Teaching Quality and Assessment in the UK (Guardian University Guide 2025).
100%
of our BA (Hons) Computer Games Design students were satisfied with their course (NSS 2023).
How to apply
All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time.)
Advanced entry
If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.
International admissions
International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
Life at USW
Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.
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