Game Design

The NYU Game Center MFA is a 2-year Master of Fine Arts degree in Game Design. Located within NYU’s famous Tisch School of the Arts, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other forms of art, media, and culture. Our students study the design and development of games in a context of advanced critical literacy, with the goal of becoming game designers and developers, artists and curators, critics and scholars.

Our curriculum includes classes in the following areas:

• Game Design – the fundamentals of how games work and how to create meaningful interactive experiences on and off the computer
• Game Production – oriented towards the creation of digital games, such as our Code Lab series of game programming courses
• Game Studies – critical theory and scholarship around the idea of games as a form of designed human culture
• Game History – including our foundational Games 101 class, which traces the history of games from ancient boardgames to today’s videogames
• Studio Courses – where the emphasis is on the collaborative group creation of digital games
• Thesis – focus of the program’s second year, where you work alone or in groups on a project of your choosing
• Play Labs – classes that take a deeper dive into the play of a particular game genre or designer’s work – such as indie tabletop RPGs or tournament Starcraft play
• Electives – a wide range of classes that explore everything from Game Journalism to Games and Players (a class on the psychology and emotions of game play)

And don’t forget the rest of NYU! Our highly flexible structure means that students can take classes from any department or program across New York University. Our MFA students have studied interactive design at NYU’s famous ITP design program, crafted stories with screenwriters in NYU’s world-class film program, and hacked into hardware at NYU’s new School of Engineering.

The MFA curriculum takes students through a two-year journey where you closely study the theory and practice of games, learn new skills, and have many, many opportunities to create games. The program begins with a highly structured first semester, but quickly becomes more flexible so that you can design and define your own course of study.

Semester 1

The school year kicks off with our annual GAME CENTER BOOT CAMP, a week of socializing and intensive programming workshops immediately before school begins. Boot camp gets everyone comfortable with each other and with making games. Then the first semester begins. Every MFA student takes the same courses during their first term:

• Game Design 1 – the fundamentals of creating meaningful choice, with an emphasis on designing non-digital tabletop and physical games
• Game Studio 1 – individually and in groups, students create digital games and learn best practices for a successful creative process
• Game Studies 1 – introduction to the scholarship of games and critical theoretical approaches to game design
• Games 101 – a history class that spans ancient to contemporary games, with an emphasis on actually playing as many of the games as possible
• Code Lab Zero – for students less experienced with programming, this optional mini-class serves as a programming support workshop for Game Studio 1 projects

Semester 2

After the highly structured first semester, things open up considerably in the second. There is only one required class, and it is up to you to fill the rest of your schedule with classes that are meaningful to you.

• Game Studio 2 – students work in groups and spend an entire semester creating a single digital game, allowing you to work on a more ambitious videogame project
• Electives – the rest of your schedule is determined entirely by your interests and passions, usually three classes in addition to Game Studio 2

Thesis Jam. As the spring semester comes to a close, our students shift their focus to the thesis project they will complete their second year. One way we help students explore their thesis ideas is through the Thesis Jam – a one-week intensive game creation experience that happens after the end of classes.

Summertime. After the second semester ends, many of our students find jobs and internships at game companies – both locally and elsewhere. Other students decide to spend the summer getting a head start on work towards their thesis project.

Semrsters 3 and 4

In the second year of the MFA program, your main focus will be your thesis project. A Game Center MFA thesis can take many forms – many are collaboratively created digital games, but a thesis can also be a tabletop game, a LARP or other live-action game, a game-related conference or event, or some kind of research project.

• Thesis – this class provides a structured place for you to work on your thesis project, including research and collaboration, as well as faculty support and critique
• Electives – in the fall and in the spring, you will take additional classes from the NYU Game Center or from across NYU, based on your interests

Our students can arrive as programmers, designers, or visual or audio developers.  But they are just as likely to have backgrounds in theater, economics, education, engineering, political activism, philosophy, journalism, or a hundred other fields.  The diversity of our student body reflects the collaborative, interdisciplinary nature of game design.

You DON’T need to have experience in making games in order to be in the program. You DO need to have creative talent, a passion for games, and a unique point of view about why you want to study game design. The NYU Game Center strives for a diverse student body. American students are often in a minority, and we strive for a rich mix in terms of culture, gender, and background.

We are seeking passionate and talented applicants for our Game Design MFA. Applicants may come from a wide range of professional, personal, and educational backgrounds. Professional game experience is not required, although the successful applicant will need to demonstrate a high level of talent, creative spirit and competence in one or more areas relating to game design, game production, and game scholarship. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college is required.  The Game Design program is two years long – full time study only.

Documents

• A personal statement of no more than 2 pages, in PDF format (note: this will be the same statement used in the portfolio, see below for more details)
• Your official undergraduate transcript(s) attached as a PDF or mailed to Tisch Graduate Admissions, c/o Game Design, 726 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10003
• Two letters of recommendation, submitted directly to Tisch from your letter writers.  We recommend you ask professors you have worked with, former professional colleagues or supervisors, or mentors.
• We do not require the GRE or any other standardized test scores, but these can be submitted if they support your overall application.  If you decide to submit a GRE score, please use school code 2357 and no subject code when requesting GRE score reports from ETS.
• International students must submit proof of English Language Proficiency, the Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL),  the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination, or the American Language Institute (ALI) proficiency examination (at the NYU campus or any U.S. campus that offers the test).  We do not have a minimum required score, but your test scores will be considered during the review process. You can submit your score using our institutional code (9633) through the Educational Testing Service (ETS).
• Portfolio

Creative Portfolio Details

Your creative portfolio uploaded to Slideroom must contain the following:

A 1-page resume, listing projects (game-related or otherwise) you have worked on, as well as all relevant work experience.

A personal statement of no more than 2 pages, in PDF format. In the personal statement, please tell us what interests you most about games and share your personal vision for how you see yourself making an impact in this field. For example, you could speculate on what you might create for your thesis (a year-long, usually collaborative project). You could also discuss an area of focus for your studies and what you feel you can best contribute to group projects. What makes you a strong candidate for the program?

A critical analysis of any game, of no more than 1 page, in PDF format. It should be a thoughtful and insightful analysis of one or more aspects of the game. We are not looking for a description of the game but instead you should demonstrate some insight into how the game works.

One or two projects, which could include digital games, non-digital games, game-related websites, visual designs, writings about games, or other creative projects.

A 1-page design statement (in PDF format) must accompany each project that summarizes the project, outlines the intentions for each project, your personal contribution (if it is a group project), and a statement about what you learned from the project. At the end of the design statement, please list all of the files you are providing that are associated with the project.

• If a project is a digital game or software application: Detailed instructions for installation and interaction, including platform requirements, must be included. You will not be able to upload any game files, so please provide a link to your online game or downloadable game files, and include the link in your design statement.
• If a project is a board game, performance, game event, or other physical project: Include detailed documentation of the project, such as photographs, a short video, script, rules of play, etc.
• If a project is a visual artwork or series: Include detailed visual documentation of the project (up to 10 images and/or up to 10 minutes of video).
• If a project is a video: You may include still images as well as a link to the video itself.
• If a project is a written paper or essay: Please upload the paper itself in PDF format. Include at the start an abstract or summary of the essay.
• If a project is a website or other online-accessible project: A link to the online project is sufficient.
• If your project does not fit into any of these categories and you do not know how best to submit or document the project, contact the Game Center at gamecenter@nyu.edu directly for advice.
• FOR ALL PROJECTS: A maximum of 10 images can be submitted per project. For video projects, submit a maximum of 10 minutes of video per project. Remember to include at least one visual for all projects that are not purely written or audio in form. See the file formats below for what kinds of files you can upload.
• Remember: a maximum of two projects can be submitted. You must include a separate design statement for each project

 What file formats are acceptable? Please stick to the following file formats:

• Images: jpg, png, gif – up to 5MB each
• Videos: mov, smv, flv, mp4 – up to 60 MB each
• Audio files: MP3 – up to 30 MB each
• ALL written materials (this includes your personal statement, project design statement, and critical analysis): PDF only – up to 10 MB each

 Which projects should you select? The one or two projects that you submit should reflect your past skills and experiences, but also the strengths that you will bring to your individual and collaborative work at the Game Center. Which projects do you feel best represent you as a potential member of the Game Center MFA community?  

• Festival Scholarship

Sensitive to the high cost of education, the Game Center does our best to work with our admitted graduate students to figure out a feasible financial plan. You can find the tuition & fee rate for graduate programs in Tisch School of the Arts at the Bursar.

Every admitted student, including international students, who indicate financial need on their Slideroom application will receive a financial aid package along with their admission letter. Institutional aid may be offered up to the cost of tuition and can come in the form of a Tisch School of the Arts Scholarship or a named scholarship generously sponsored by one of our partners.