M.S. Games & Playable Media

About Games & Playable Media

The Games and Playable Media Masters of Science program (GPM) is a five-quarter, professionally-oriented degree program that provides students with an intensive educational experience to prepare them to enter the computer game industry. The degree explores state-of-the-art and novel experiences in video game development across genres, audiences, and platforms. Students gain foundational skills in game technology and game design, and advanced skills in methods of game development that maximize creativity and expression. The curriculum’s focus on professional methods and work habits, understanding of games from both practical and theoretical perspectives, and the generation of new gameplay ideas, provides excellent preparation for a career as a game developer.

This program is about designing and developing entertainment games.

Course Requirements

GAME 270, 271, 272

Games & Playable Media Studio I, II, III

GAME 230 or 235, 236 1

Fundamentals of Game Engineering or
Game Development I, II

GAME 200

Game Design Systems

GAME 231

Game Technologies

GAME 221

Professional Development for Game Makers

GAME 280A

Games Proseminar

Three Game Engineering Electives 2

  1. GPM offers two course pathways to enable students to develop sufficient gameplay programming skills depending on their previous experience. Students either take GAME 230 to fulfill the programming requirement, or they take the GAME 235/236 series which covers the same content more gradually. This permits the GPM program to accommodate students with a much broader set of educational backgrounds and preparedness.
  2. Offerings include a variety of electives on both the Silicon Valley Campus and Santa Cruz Campus, see our full catalog: GPM Course Listings

Sample Schedule

Quarter 1

GAME 230
Fundamentals of Game Engineering
OR
GAME235
Game Development 1

GAME 200
Game Design Systems

Optional Elective

Quarter 2

GAME 236
Game Programming II
OR
Game Engineering Elective 1

Game Engineering Elective 2

GAME 280A
Games Proseminar

Quarter 3

GAME 270
Games & Playable Media Studio I

GAME 221
Profesional Development for Game Makers

GAME 231
Game Technologies

Summer

Optional Internship or Sponsored Project

Quarter 4

GAME 271
Games & Playable Media Studio II

Game Engineering Elective 3

Quarter 5

GAME 272
Games & Playable Media Studio III

Elective Course

GAME 280A
Games Proseminar

Experience Our Capstone Projects

The degrees culminate in a comprehensive, collaborative capstone project. Students work together in spring, fall, and winter quarters to learn fundamental game engineering and project management practices while also pitching and developing project ideas. Successful pitches are selected for completion during the Games & Playable Media Studio sequence.

Come get a taste of what we do here!

Capstone Projects

M.S. in Games + Playable Media Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates from the M.S. in Games + Playable Media program will achieve the following learning outcomes:

  1. Mastery of Games and Playable Media in the following core knowledge areas:
    • Game mechanics, game systems and tuning
    • Usability testing and gameplay testing, how to conduct tests and revise based on tests
  2. Mastery of digital game production in the following core knowledge areas:
    • Game industry roles and models for cross-disciplinary collaboration
    • Game software development methodologies, e.g. Agile/Scrum
    • Game industry standards, procedures, affiliations and groups
    • Communication and documentation skills
  3. Mastery of gameplay programming in the following core knowledge areas:
    • Object oriented programming for games
    • Use of game engine middleware to construct digital games
    • Basic artificial intelligence for games
  4. Knowledge of game industry practices and trends, including:
    • Business models and budgeting
    • Intellectual property law
    • Marketing and promotion