Certificate Game Design

Overview of Our 1-Year Game Design Program

This program is offered in NYC and Los Angeles. It is for students who would like a high-intensity, hands-on immersion in the study of game design with like-minded creative and technical people. The program is two semesters.


The New York Film Academy (NYFA) One Year in Game Design is a two semester (16-weeks per semester) conservatory-based, full-time study certificate program. The curriculum is designed to immerse gifted and energetic prospective Game Developers in a survey of the key aspects of the discipline. The New York Film Academy One Year Certificate in Game Design provides a creative setting in which to challenge, inspire, and perfect the talents of its student body. Students follow an intensive curriculum and achieve multiple learning goals.

The strength of the NYFA One Year Certificate in Game Design is in its combination of storytelling studies, game design theory, game arts education, game programming education, and the hands-on direct application of each. Based on a high concentration of intense narrative and game prototyping workshops designed to challenge the individual student beyond his or her status quo and into a new realm, the program is further enhanced by concentrating on the commercial realities of the medium.

Program Objectives

The educational objectives in the One Year Certificate in Game Design are to give students an introductory education in the art and craft of professional game writing and design, and to instruct students through a regimen consisting of lectures, seminars, and total immersion workshops to excel in the creative art of game writing & design.

All students will:

• Be able to deconstruct any game experience into Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic systems.
• Acquire the skills of game prototyping, playtesting, iteration, presentation, and collaboration.
• Know how to prototype multiple games regardless of technical skills.

Year One

In Year One, students receive a deep education in Playcentric Design and Systems Literacy. Students work in collaboration to deliver working software each semester.

Learning Objectives

One Year Certificate in Game Design students at NYFA will be introduced to the key facets of game design, from writing to art to development to programming. They are expected to create their own 30+ page game design wiki, a portfolio of their game art, and demonstrate their knowledge of game programming by delivering two functional digital games in collaboration with classmates.

Skills learned as a result of successful completion of this program include:

• The ability to work collaboratively in a high-pressure creative environment.
• Intermediate knowledge of the theories of narrative storytelling in video games.
• Intermediate knowledge of the techniques and practices of game art and animation.
• An introductory knowledge of the language and processes of game programming.
• A firm foundation in the theories, methods and execution of game development, through participation in the creation of a working video game.
• Intermediate understanding of the Maya 3-D Art Software.

Requirements

One Year Certificate in Game Design requires successful completion of the following creative projects in partial fulfillment of the graduation requirement:

• 2 functional digital games (in collaboration with classmates)
• 3-D Art Portfolio
• Graphic Design Portfolio
• Satisfactory Participation in Narrative Design Workshop
• Satisfactory Participation in the crafts of Playcentric Design and Systems Literacy

Curriculum

See the full One-Year Game Design Conservatory Program here.