As a Game Design major at Champlain College, you'll start building worlds on day one, preparing for a burgeoning industry. And you'll understand the strategies, narratives and motivators that compel people to play.
The Game Design major puts you at the game-making controls in your first semester. Gameplay systems, narratives, programing, level design, world-building: become an expert in the areas you’re most passionate about. And prepare for your career while studying at the vibrant heart of an expansive gaming culture.
You’ll develop extensive foundational game design skills during your first two years. During your third and fourth years, you will begin to focus on areas that interest you as a game designer and build an impressive portfolio of collaborative work as you prepare to enter the game industry.
The Game Studio Experience at Champlain College is a unique feature that gives you hands-on experience in your field, working with peers from our other game majors to complete game projects from start to finish. This parallel to real-world professional studio work is what makes Champlain game programmers stand out from the crowd; you’ll have firsthand experience working with other departments to bring a project to completion.
Video game design is the process of designing the gameplay, storyline, game progression, environment, and characters while determining how all of these parts fit together seamlessly into a cohesive game experience. Game designers create the vision of a game, and work with other game specialists, such as artists and programmers, to bring that vision to life. Many game designers have a focus area such as level design or narrative design, and work with other game designers to bring their visions together to create a successful game.
With the Game Design major at college, you’ll get involved in Game Design classes starting in your first semester so you can begin your Game Design education starting on day one. Students will spend most of their time in class and at home actually working on projects and doing the work. Students won’t have to sit through hours of lectures before starting the work; instead they learn by completing projects and working on real games and software.
Unlike other universities, the majority of your classes across all four years here are focused on game design and the different focuses students can go after. This way, you spend less time learning inessential classes, and more time focused on learning to design the next blockbuster game. The Game Studio and prominence of other gaming programs and eSports club and varsity teams means you’ll learn in a gaming-oriented community, preparing you for your career.
Champlain College is a major gaming community: there are multiple gaming degree programs, Champlain is regularly ranked among the top nationally for game design, and there’s a healthy eSports community.
The curriculum gets students involved in Game Design classes starting in their first semester. The majority of students’ classes are focused on game design and the different focuses students can go after.
Students will spend most of their time actually working on projects. No hours of lectures before beginning; learn by working on real games and software.
The Game Studio Experience ensures that students know how to work well in teams just like the ones in professional studios. This cooperative experience sets Champlain graduates above others when competing for jobs. Years 2-4 feature classes with all other game students in the Game Studio Experience.
Classes taught by game industry experts who have been or remain highly active professionals in the industry.
Champlain College was ranked a top school for game design The Princeton Review’s in the 2024 rankings.
Champlain was named as “Most Innovative School” by U.S. News & World Report in its “America’s Best Colleges” 2024 ranking of universities in the North.
The unique Game Studio Experience at Champlain College gives you start-to-finish game-building experience in a professional environment. You’ll collaborate with your peers in each of our game majors to create playable games in a studio that parallels the processes of the industry.
You will have the opportunity to present the game you create with your Game Studio team—as well as your own demo reel—to recruiters from all over the United States and Canada. Recruiters often come to the Senior Show to scout new talent, from companies like: Insomniac, Activision, Ubisoft and more!
Champlain College sends a cohort to the world’s largest game developers conference each year in San Francisco for professional development and networking. The Career Coach facilitates exclusive networking meetings for Champlain students with top recruiters from some of the largest game developers.
Game Design requires a broad range of knowledge from psychology to game engine scripting. You will find this depth throughout the curriculum and you’ll have plenty of options to specialize in Game System Design, Level/Content Design, or Narrative Design.
Based on your interest in the Game Design major, we thought you also might like to check out these other academic programs and opportunities.
Create successful games, build your portfolio, and learn programming within a creative gaming culture when you major in Game Programming at Champlain College.
This one-of-a-kind program prepares you to guide the teams creating tomorrow’s games. Immerse yourself in collaborative, hands-on projects in the Game Production Management major at Champlain College.
Champlain College is a gaming industry hub, and the Game Art program builds your creative vision and your technical skills to make you job-ready.
Gaming is global, and its future requires business leaders who understand the industry. Champlain College is a hub for gaming – study Game Business & Publishing and learn alongside your future peers.
Develop your self-expression in our Creative Media major, and learn the business side of interdisciplinary production, digital creation, and entrepreneurship.
Hone your computer programming skills and apply that knowledge to create the dynamic environments, gameplay, characters, and more that make a successful game.
Discover different types of narratives that are immersive, non-linear, and engage our audience in a wholly new and unique way. Learn to design these narratives and create all new experiences.
Perfect your technical skills while learning how design impacts messaging and vice versa. Explore the latest digital-image software and learn how to create professional communication materials.
Develop a fundamental understanding of human behavior, and learn how to apply this knowledge to increase your interpersonal communication skills in your personal life and in the office.
Turn concepts into digital reality.
Bring ideas to life in unexpected ways.
The Game Design major requires you to submit a portfolio of your work. What are we looking for? Simply, we want to see you design something. We are looking for creativity, innovation, and we want you to demonstrate your ability to deconstruct a game and then re-envision it into something new and exciting. There are a number of important points to consider.
You may wish to enhance your application with additional materials. These are not required, but are recommended. Game designers need a broad range of skills from programming to visual design. Show us some of your other skills as they apply to communicating your idea. Follow the link below for more information on Game Design portfolio requirements.
Suggested Preparation:
Game designers need diversity in their education and experiences. Here is a list of some suggested areas of study and exploration:
Our Game Design majors find employment in AAA companies as well as indie studios. Over the past six years, nearly 3/4 of these graduates were employed within six months of graduation.
The Champlain Game Academy offers an intensive residential pre-college program for high school students entering grades 10-12 and recent high school graduates. Like the Game Studio, our program emphasizes teamwork and creative collaboration across all the game development disciplines. In order to understand how a professional game development team works, students will be introduced to all aspects of game development.
Learn More on the Pre-College Summer Program WebsiteAs a Game Design major at Champlain College, you'll start building worlds on day one, preparing for a burgeoning industry. And you'll understand the strategies, narratives and motivators that compel people to play.
Learn to map out, develop, and create the gameplay that defines a player's unique experience from industry-expert faculty with our Game Design major.
Learn from committed and knowledgeable industry-expert faculty in the Game Design program.