BA Games Art and Design

The BA (Hons) Games Art and Design degree course focuses upon the three interacting areas of creative practice that constitute digital game production: art, design and technology.

An innovative and responsive curriculum encourages creativity, giving you the skillset to succeed in a fast moving sector by maximising both employability and entrepreneurial spirit. The course develops your creativity through teaching conceptualisation and design, practical techniques for game artists and a strong critical understanding of game forms. We help you realise your full potential by encouraging exploration of both mainstream and indie games, the 'casual' sector, mobile technologies and cutting edge forms such as art, documentary and persuasive games.

You gain a strong understanding of traditional art and design techniques, learning how they inform digital practice as the course develops your technology-based skillset using industry standard 2D and 3D applications for game development. Taking advantage of our rare and prestigious Apple University Developer status you are encouraged to realise concepts for Apple's iOS devices or other game platforms including current generation consoles.

We combine professional practice with the opportunity for artistic and academic progression. Throughout our unique curriculum the course regularly collaborates with professionals from the games sector and other related creative industries. To enhance your educational experience there are a variety of opportunities for work placements and/or projects in collaboration with the commercial sector and other institutions. Professionals from the games sector also energise the curriculum through lectures, workshops, the setting of briefs and other forms of direct input.

Your Future

Representatives from Apple, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment, Ninja Theory, KUJO Studios and TIGA have given advice that informed the curriculum. The course attracts high profile speakers and guest lecturers such as game design guru Chris Crawford, Mitch Phillips (Art Director at Ninja Theory), Joshua and Maxwell Scott-Slade (Founders of award-winning indie studio JohnnyTwoShoes) and Paul Gravett (comic scholar and curator). Collaborative project partners include Tate Britain, The Castle Museum Norwich and Real Projects.

NUCA has been awarded Apple iOS University Developer Status giving access to the Software Developer kit and the wide range of resources in the Development Centre, which fully equips you to create games and applications.

The course is affiliated to professional associations such as the Digital Games Research Association, TIGA - the UK games trade association, the International Games Development Association and Women in Games International.

Students have found employment in companies such as Electronic Arts, Blitz, Jagex, Frontier and Climax and on SFX for films such as Harry Potter and Prince of Persia.

Students who successfully complete their undergraduate studies are also able to progress to a range of MA courses at NUCA, in particular MA Moving Image and Sound.