Do you want a career in games and the digital entertainment industries? Do you want to study in the region that’s home to Cooperative Innovations, Red Kite Games, Rockstar, XR Games and Team 17?
Games is the UK’s biggest entertainment industry and gamification benefits many other sectors. Interactive digital experiences from consoles and virtual reality (VR) to Smart TVs and mobile phones are embedded in our everyday lives.
This course, developed with games employers, will equip you with the creative, technical and soft skills necessary to thrive in this exciting and evolving environment.
We’ll teach you how to design and create characters, objects and environments using 2D and 3D software and 3D games engines. You’ll learn user-centred design, working individually and in creative teams with other students.
The course will help build your understanding of core stages in the digital design pipeline and enable you to develop the skills needed to become a successful digital designer. You’ll increase your technical fluency in a range of professional software, and engage with narrative, considering how interactivity can offer different forms of storytelling.
You will learn about the wide-ranging impact of video games on society and never forget the fun in making games. This degree will enable you to both design your own projects and also deliver industry briefs.
We place emphasis on creativity and design outputs and equipping you with the knowledge needed to solve problems and make informed decisions as you develop your games design portfolio.
Professional work placements and employer commissions are embedded in your degree and allow you to gain valuable experience and increase your understanding of global creative and games industries.
By the time you graduate, you’ll have had the chance to develop as a confident games designer with the ability to design and prototype entertaining and meaningful creative digital and interactive experiences.
You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
During your first year, you'll study five core modules.
You'll be introduced to the core concepts of play and games including game art and game engine skills where you'll develop your knowledge and understanding of different theories and then explore their practical implementation.
Starting with a focus on non-digital games, you'll identify different types of games, mechanics, areas of play, rules and themes through playing and reflecting on a variety of games.
You'll also take part in design activities such as designing levels, game design challenges and you'll put together a design for a playable game prototype.
Develop your 3D modelling and game engine skills when you work with props and prepare them for the game engine pipeline and make use of them as assets in a game engine.
Explore the ways that video games matter and develop the core vocabulary and skills for analysing video games in relation to relevant concepts and contexts of game design.
You'll study a range of core concepts and approaches to analyse video games, which will encompass the ethics of globalised games industry and production cultures, gaming cultures, diversity and social justice in relation to games from AAA to indie, game aesthetics and playability.
You'll consider games as games, games as intermedial or transmedia and games as art. You'll then apply these concepts in short written portfolio entries.
You'll focus on computer games, where you'll analyse and break down examples, identify theories in practice, platforms and interfaces, UX/UI considerations, art styles, themes and genres, which you'll build towards a Games Design document where you'll explore an idea and become familiar with a key piece of game development.
Develop your game art and game engine knowledge, looking at environments and characters then bring these together to produce a simple level slice demo 'in engine'.
You'll develop teamworking skills through creative challenges, taught sessions, profiling and self-understanding.
You'll work on team presentation and develop a professional persona through attitude, commitment and effective communication.
In the second semester, you'll look at enterprise and sector analysis.
You'll develop your solo presentation and pitching skills.
We'll cover the creativity and skills needed to start, maintain and grow your production streams as independent creators.
We'll help you develop the skills valued by the creative industries to help you become a professional with an industry-relevant work ethic.
Through studying material such as fantasy, epic and myth and scholarly materials, you'll learn how narrative is constructed, including plot, plot twists, reader response and character construction including character motivation and choices and world building.
Explore the ethics of narrative construction, considering issues such as diversity and inclusion, peace, conflict and concepts of right and wrong.
During your second year, you'll study four core modules.
You'll look at the use of existing technologies currently used in computer games development and seek out opportunities for innovation within the field.
Explore the current state of game technologies and identify technical fundamentals in relation to games development. Identify areas where you can push the boundaries and introduce new and creative ideas.
Explore ways of creating and interacting with digital narratives.
You'll evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different formats and publishing platforms, and how they can be used for fiction and non-fiction storytelling.
You'll create digital narratives that could be game-based or interactive scenarios.
Develop your professional skills to help with your CV, interviews, networking, self-marketing, and industry-specific employability skills.
You'll have talks from external speakers and industry contacts as well as internal expertise, preparing you for your first external placement.
Develop your skills in creative problem-solving, idea generation, project management and enterprise through creative productions.
This will also develop freelancing skills and equip you to be flexible and professional in the creative industry, whether self-employed or as an employee or employer.
You'll be introduced to the different roles and process that are found in a game studio, then put the knowledge and skills you've built so far into practice by developing your own demo.
You'll go through the key stages of development, starting from pitching an idea, pre-production to production and then testing and launching your demo.
During your final year, you'll study two core modules and will be required to choose one option module.
You'll draw on the professional skills you have developed throughout your degree so far and use these to negotiate, deliver and reflect on a collaborative project with an employer.
This could include a work-based project, intervention or an alternative professional development project within the work setting.
You'll identify an area of game design to specialise in and develop a brief to work for your final project. You'll draw on the skills and knowledge you've developed so far and put them into practice.
You'll also build a creative portfolio using examples of work you'll have collated from your course so far and and will use existing portfolios of professionals in the game design industry as guidance.
Cover the main elements of intelligence and intelligent systems, focussing on machine learning.
Explore ethics and artificial intelligence (AI) regulations from human and machine contexts.
You'll explore how to design a business around AI and AI trends and measure the impact of using such technology.
Get hands-on experience in machine learning algorithms and techniques such as regression/clustering, reinforcement learning and deep learning.
You'll study various real cases of using AI in detecting fraud and fake news, healthcare and battling against chronic diseases.
You'll be introduced to the concept of immersion and immersive game design and explore the theories behind what immersion is and what different techniques and considerations are used in design immersive games.
You'll look at a range of example games including board games, TTRPGs, LARPS, Escape Rooms and Computer Games to see how different principles are applied across different platforms and contexts of play and experience.
Explore how immersive game design can be used in designing a game for AR and VR experiences, and design a game or level that would make use of these technologies with a focus on creating an immersive experience.
Experience matters. That's why we embed professional work placements within the majority of our standard undergraduate degrees.
Careers+Placements will work with you to find a placement or help you to arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.
During your placement, you could have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.
We have established links with digital and screen media employers across the region. You could undertake your placement in a wide variety of organisations across the games and digital entertainment industries. This may include games development and design companies, museums, creative marketing companies and digital agencies.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.
Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.
The following information is designed to give you a general overview of the qualifications we accept. If you are taking qualifications that are not included below, please contact our Admissions Office who will be happy to advise you.
| UCAS tariff | 112-136 |
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.
Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.
The following information is designed to give you a general overview of the qualifications we accept. If you are taking qualifications that are not included below, please contact our Admissions Office who will be happy to advise you.
| UCAS tariff | 112-104 |
For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.
On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.
As part of your application, you'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.
There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our Admissions team who will be happy to help:
Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.
Graduates from this course will have the knowledge and understanding needed to get graduate-level employment in the games and digital design sector. Career opportunities also exist in research and development companies, other screen industries such as VFX and motion graphics or providing your skills to others through freelance work or self-employment.
You could work in a wide range of careers, including:
After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit: