Game Design

View List of Majors > Major Banner: Game Design

Division of Communication & Creative Media

Are you ready to join the magic circle? Game designers create the space in which games take place: the magic circle. They design the gameplay experience, tell the stories and build the levels that define each game. In our Game Design degree program, you gain the knowledge, skill and experience you will need to work in the thriving computer and video game industry.

Express your creativity and your passion. Champlain's game design program is designed to create a well-rounded professional experienced in the theory and practice of developing a game. Students focus their passions on game design, level design, game writing, or game production and management. Course work emphasizes creative expression, group dynamics, excellent written and oral communication skills, production knowledge, visual and interactive aesthetics, conceptualization, and creative problem solving.

Teamwork is the key to success. Students enrolled in Game Art and Animation, Game Design or Game Programming work in a collaborative environment modeled on the video game industry. This team-based environment represents the convergence of the video game entertainment industry with emergent and immersive technologies, serious games, 2D- and 3D-art, animation, interactive storytelling and interface design. Students from all three programs collaborate throughout their four years at Champlain in production environments to create original 2D and 3D projects. The culmination of your education is a complete year-long project where you and your team take an original game idea from concept to gold master.

Join the future of mass media. In 2007 the computer and video game entertainment industry grew 6% to reach $9.5 billion. Added to the landscape are the growing number of jobs outside of traditional video game production. These positions utilize the same skill sets to create game-based materials used in a variety of industries from military, industrial, corporate, and medical training to advertising, marketing and other promotional media.