The Master of Entertainment Arts and Engineering degree is designed as a cohort model where students from all five tracks remain together throughout the two year program (fall and spring semesters only). Students take a series of courses focused on their specialty, as well as a series of classes with students from other tracks including game design, rapid prototyping, pre-production, and final projects. Each track also has a concentrated set of electives to choose from.
Students typically enroll in three courses each semester for the two years they are in the program (see below for a sample program of study).
Sample Game Design Track Curriculum (new for 2024-2025)
Each of the graduate tracks have both shared and unique classes. Scroll to view the specific classes for each track.
Fall 1
- EAE 6500 – Gameplay Content Design
- EAE 6100 – Rapid Prototyping (4)
- EAE 6000 – Theories of Games and Play (3)
Spring 1
- EAE 6510 – Technical Game Design (3)
- EAE 6110 – Game Studio (4)
- EAE 6*** – Game Design Elective (3)
- drawn from one of the following:
- EAE6010 -Level Design (3)
- EAE6015 - Paper Prototyping for Game Design (3)
- EAE6020 - Ethics in Games (3)
- EAE6025 - Serious Games (3)
- EAE6030 - Experimental Gameplay (3)
- EAE6035 - Narrative in Game Design (3)
- EAE6040 - Games User Research (3)
- EAE6045 - Game User Interface Design (3)
- EAE6050 - Game Systems Design (3)
- EAE6900 - Special Topics (1 - 4)
- drawn from one of the following:
Fall 2
- EAE 6520 - Game Design Communication (3)
- EAE 6120 – Advanced Game Studio I (4)
- EAE 6*** – Directed Elective (3)
Spring 2
- EAE 6530 - Game Design Practicum (3)
- EAE 6130 – Advanced Game studio II (4)
- EAE 6*** – Directed Elective (3)
Course Descriptions:
EAE 6000 – Theories of Games and Play
In this class students will play and analyze games concurrently with studying contemporary research and theories about them. The medium of games will be examined from a variety of perspectives including their aesthetic potential, uses, culture, their industrial production, and more. In this way, this course provides opportunities for richer and more informed views on games as a cultural medium. The course involves significant amounts of reading, writing, and presenting.
EAE 6XXX - Game Design Elective
Game Design elective is the second seminar in which students study and design games as well as investigate the process of game creation. This requirement is met by taking one of a variety of courses offered and can focus on the final stages of game design and production, narrative approaches to games, user experiences, or ethics in games. Students will learn about critical perspectives, genre development, elements of game genres, traditions, and trajectories, as well as game post-production. Students will learn how to conduct and write a postmortem in addition to a game critique.
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Sample Design electives:
EAE 6010 – Level Design
EAE 6015 – Paper Prototyping
EAE 6020 – Ethics in Games
EAE 6025 – Serious Games
EAE 6030 – Experimental Gameplay
EAE 6035 – Narrative in Game Design
EAE 6040 – Games User Research
EAE 6045 – Games User Interface Design
EAE 6050 – Game Systems Design
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EAE 6100 - Rapid Prototyping
This class is the first course of four in the game projects sequence. This section focuses primarily on rapid prototyping. Students will work in teams to pitch, prototype, and present games over a maximum of four weeks, resulting in a better more refined game pitch and prototype. During each prototype sprint, students will work on a different team. Additionally, a different design, aesthetic, or technical directive will define each sprint. Design requirements may vary from creating educational games, to specific genres. Teams will be made up of at least one producer, artist, and engineer. Four or five games will be prototyped using a variety of game engines and techniques.
EAE 6110 - Game Studio
Students work collaboratively in medium-sized teams in the design and development of a game. The majority of student work time is spent in design, production, and playtesting. Students are expected to publish their game as part of this course.
EAE 6120 – Advanced Game Studio
Students work collaboratively in large teams in the design and development of their master's game project. This course is the first of a two-course sequence that continues in Advanced Game Studio II.
EAE 6130 – Advanced Game Studio II
Students work collaboratively in large teams in the design and development of their master's game project. This course is the second course of a two-course sequence that began in Advanced Game Studio I. Students are expected to publish their master's game project as part of this course.
EAE 6500 – Gameplay Content Design
In this course students will learn and develop skills allowing them to perform the role of a game designer within a larger game development team. This course emphasizes gameplay content design: creating gameplay within a pre-established game context (e.g. missions, quests for a game). Designing such gameplay content generally entails determining what the gameplay beats, objectives, interactions, spatial layout, rewards, dialogue and story elements are. Students will pitch, present, document, and iteratively develop and polish their gameplay content using scripting and industry standard tools.
EAE 6510 – Technical Game Design
This course provides students with advanced knowledge in scripting for implementing game logic from a game design perspective. Students will use industry standard game engine scripting tools (e.g. Unity, Unreal) and languages (e.g. C#, Lua, Python) to ideate, digitally prototype, and create production ready systems, gameplay features, and/or mechanics. Course work will focus on planning, analyzing, and writing game scripts to implement student originated and instructor provided designs.
EAE 6520 – Game Design Communication
A designer's fundamental responsibility is to effectively communicate design goals to cross-disciplinary development teams. This course enhances the concepts and skills needed for communicating and presenting game design documentation in various formats. Students will learn about professional communication, technical visualization, ideation, and the role of the designer within the larger game development team. Upon successful completion of this course, students will know how to communicate game designs accurately, completely, and concisely in the appropriate formats.
EAE 6530 – Game Design Practicum
Game Design Practicum gives students space to engage deeply with a chosen specialization within the field of game design (i.e. combat, level, mission, narrative, or systems). During this course, students will focus on developing a semester-long project that demonstrates mastery in their chosen area of expertise. The instructor will oversee individual projects, facilitate weekly group critiques, and provide individualized mentorship. Students who successfully complete this course will produce a polished game design portfolio piece.