M.S. Serious Games

About Serious Games

We are no longer accepting applications for our Serious Games MS program. If you are interested in making Serious Games, we encourage you to apply to our Games and Playable Media MS program, where you can enroll in Serious Games electives that will continue to be taught by our Serious Games faculty. If you have any questions, please contact msgames@ucsc.edu

The Serious Games Master of Science program (SG) is a five-quarter, professionally-oriented degree program. The M.S. in Serious Games targets the development of novel games that have the potential to make high societal impacts, such as learning games, simulation, health-based games, and more. Students in this program will propose their own game ideas and work with subject matter experts to realize and test their creations. The curriculum will expose students to the design and development of games, as well as experimental work needed to establish efficacy of game ideas and test their impact. The program’s curriculum is designed so that all students develop a baseline understanding of the necessary areas: game design, game technology, integrating subject matter expertise, designing and performing efficacy measures, effective teamwork, and career planning — all within the context of the serious games field.

Course Requirements

GAME 200

Game Design Systems

GAME 221

Professional Development for Game Makers

GAME 230 or 235, 236 1

Fundamentals of Game Engineering or
Game Development I, II

GAME 250

Foundations of Serious Games

GAME 255, 256, 257

Serious Games Studio I, II, III

GAME 280A

Games Proseminar

3 Electives 2

  1. Students who lack sufficient technical preparation to enroll in GAME 230, Fundamentals of Game Engineering, must take both GAME 235, Game Development I, and GAME 236, Game Development II. Assessment of technical preparation will be performed based on completed coursework prior to entry into the program, discussion with the student, and, at the program’s discretion, use of a technical assessment examination.
  2. Offerings include a variety of electives on both the Silicon Valley Campus and Santa Cruz Campus, see our full catalog: GPM | SG 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
Elective Course

GAME 250
Foundations of Serious Games

GAME 280A
Games Proseminar

Quarter 3

GAME 255
Serious Games Studio I

GAME 221
Profesional Development for Game Makers

Elective Course

Summer

Optional Internship or Sponsored Project

Quarter 4

GAME 256
Serious Games Studio II

Elective Course

Quarter 5

GAME 257
Serious Games 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 Serious Games Studio sequence.

Come get a taste of what we do here!

Capstone Projects

M.S. in Serious Games Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates from the M.S. in Serious Games program will be able to:

  1. Use fundamental game design knowledge and knowledge of the serious games field to specify systems that will lead to a desired player experience, playtest to see what experience is achieved, and iterate to improve results and/or revise design goals in light of playtest discoveries, making necessary scope and focus decisions to complete within available time and resources.
  2. Use fundamental game technology knowledge and knowledge of the serious games field to select appropriate platforms and frameworks for a serious game project, construct novel software components to integrate into project frameworks, and debug and refine to achieve desired system behavior.
  3. Use an understanding of the role of subject matter expertise in the serious games field to successfully identify appropriate sources of subject matter expertise, elicit the necessary knowledge to inform a game project, and integrate that knowledge into the core gameplay experience.
  4. Use knowledge of appropriate serious games efficacy measures to design measures for a game, perform the measurement, analyze results, and identify potential game revisions arising from the results.
  5. Use an understanding of communication and collaboration approaches to operate effectively as a member of a serious game development team, and support others in doing so.
  6. Use knowledge of the professional landscape of the serious games field to define their own intended career trajectory.