Video Game Design

Some video game designers are programmers in their own right, and may have even come from that background to a designer’s role. Others have a less formal background. All video game designers should have a solid understanding of what programmers can and cannot do, how assets interact with code, what algorithmic thinking is and how to take advantage of the capabilities of different engines and tools.

Modern video games are incredibly complex multimedia productions involving still and motion graphics, code, audio, interface elements, narrative elements and much more.

In this course, you will learn how and where all these pieces come from, who's in charge of each piece and the different stages of the game design process. We will also show you how everything is brought together to create a final product.

In this course, you'll enter the mind of a professional game designer. You'll learn how to design different types of games, understand the commonalities between them and learn what is at the core of every game design, including game balance and why it is key to game design.

Video games as a medium go back more than 50 years to mainframe computers. Even the central design of video games can be traced back to the first games themselves.

To be a good game designer, it's essential to have an understanding of the video game design industry's fascinating history.

We've partnered with The Strong National Museum of Play to give you a unique look into the history of all things video game. The International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong is the largest and most comprehensive public assemblage of video games and related materials in the world. The staff are celebrated experts in the field and the ICHEG is visited by scholars of video games from around the world. You'll gain amazing insight into the history of video games with a guided exploration of key artifacts from the collection of more than 100,000 electronic games and materials.