GAME DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS - 2026/7

Module Overview

Game Design Fundamentals presents an introduction to games design for students in their first year. Video games combine multiple modes and disciplines in their creation and realisation (play). There are moving visuality and cinematics aspects to think about, sound and music components, narrative, character and text concerns, the interaction of the player and the interface(s) that they will use to play the game, the structure of the game play, static art and presentation, pitching and marketing of the game and more. As such, game design is a dynamic field of artistic and work practices, processes and ideas that intersect and interact with each other, generally in an iterative fashion where developments in one aspect of a game's design alters other aspects and how all of these behave together.

Across your degree, we will look to bring these threads together and explore the ways in which they can be most effectively and innovatively work to produce engaging and successful games. This module will therefore provide a grounding in games design theory and practice, looking at aspects such as game design documents, game mechanics, designing for levels, character design, interaction and gameplay and technology, as well as iterative prototyping techniques, internal economies, game design work practices, static and dynamic elements, scoring systems, narrative progression, and more. Game Design Fundamentals, along with other games design and games studies modules in the first year, will connect forward to broader and more specialised modules in these areas in the second and final year of the programme. It also contributes to the acquisition of technical and specialist software skills across the first year of the degree, including an introduction to game engines such as Unreal and Blender.

Module provider

Literature & Languages

Module Leader

MOONEY Stephen (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Introduction to game design


• Concept and idea generation: brief and proposal


• Planning and designing levels for games


• Gameplay experience and design, static and dynamic elements, scoring systems


• Game mechanics: possibilities and limitations


• Game controls and functionality


• Basic game design infrastructure (technology & software)


• Game design work practices and internal economies


• Play, interaction and fun


• Character design


• Narrative progression


• Play testing strategies


• Iterative prototyping techniques (digital and alternatives)


• Game Design Documentation

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the module learning outcomes.

Seminar discussion with ongoing tutor feedback is designed mainly to assess transferable skills in working as part of a group and applying theory to creative design and practical/professional skills in developing and presenting work in suitably industry facing form and to professional standards as well as expressing ideas and critical analysis in oral communication. It also assesses subject knowledge in the different forms of practical and critical thinking and expertise explored in relation to games design and cognitive/analytical skills in critical thinking and in using theory in the close examination of critical texts and process and design challenges in class.

The Game Design Document outline, Game Prototype Pitch and Game Prototype Design Build with Reflective Critical Commentary assessments allow students to demonstrate:

• subject knowledge relating to the close analysis of form, meaning, language and context in games design (including sustainability and global and cultural capability narratives)


• cognitive/analytical skills in critical thinking


• professional/practical skills in communicating ideas, proposing, planning, designing, testing and realising a games design output that will feed forward into their future careers as games designers and/or critics


• creative engagement with the opportunities and limitations of a particular mode of writing and designing, skills that will feed into their games design and other modules in future years of the degree, including their final major project in their final year


• creative engagement with theories, texts, themes and challenges discussed on the module, such as sustainability and global cultural awareness matters


• an ability to locate their own creative design work fruitfully and articulately in relation to existing traditions, practices and processes in contemporary games design

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Assessment 1: Game Design Document outline (500 words) (25%)

This summative assessment is an opportunity for students to present an outline of a game design proposal in the professional form of the Game Design Document (GDD), incorporating both text and visual materials

Assessment 2: Game Prototype Pitch (250 words) (25%)

This summative assessment allows students to present a pitch in professional form for a functional game prototype which they will develop in Assessment 3 of the module

Assessment 3: Game Prototype Design Build with Reflective Critical Commentary (250 words) (50%)

This assessment represents a culmination of the module's output with students designing and presenting a functional game prototype, highlighting gameplay mechanisms OR level design, and incorporating a reflective critical commentary (250 words) that addresses the testing and development processes employed

Formative Assessment & Feedback:

Verbal feedback and formative 'feed forward' is provided through seminar workshop discussions, and tutor and peer feedback in seminars, with draft work presented as part of the confidence building safe space of the workshop element of the classes. Design, documentation, presentation, professional writing and critical analysis skills will be developed and honed which will feed forward to the summative assessments for this module and towards building the students' resilience and confidence in preparing work for public presentation.

There is the option of a range of other feedback mechanisms agreed between tutor and students in week 1 of the module, such as seminar contribution and writing exercises.

Module aims

• provide students with the opportunity to explore a range of games design techniques and practices
  
• equip students with pertinent knowledge about games design processes and working practices
• provide students with an understanding of the theoretical fundamentals of games design
• provide opportunities for students to learn industry relevant tools and practices
• introduce students to the process of reflecting upon their games design activities
• give students a grounding in games design documentation
• build confidence in designing and presenting their creative work

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• hone and develop student' game design skills (in a variety of forms) by developing an awareness of the application of their games design practice and processes in informing their critical thinking, and vice versa, and in further developing their own ideation, building and testing skills through responding to in-class briefs, discussion and sharing of designing experience alongside study of critical and source materials


• assist students in locating games design theories and texts and their own critical writing, and their own design work in historical and cultural contexts by identifying some of the key ideas and concerns in design proposal, documentation and prototype work and its cultural context, such as global cultural and sustainability questions, and the relationship between creative design practice and critical and theoretical approaches to such


• equip students with the research and writing skills they will need to produce critically informed academic and creative writing (in a variety of forms) and creative criticism by developing competency and confidence in writing in a variety of different modes and media such as games design documentation, pitches, etc. by encouraging thinking about forms and professional standards in writing styles through the safe space of the seminar setting where ideas, advice and responses are shared with new designers


• equip students with a basic grounding in resourcefulness and resilience as new designers by giving them the freedom to experiment with forms, modes and styles in response to the design briefs in class, and by providing them with the supportive and encouraging safe space of the seminar within which they can take the beginning steps in receiving and giving constructive critical and creative responses to their own work and those of other students and begin to develop a further awareness of their creative process


• help students develop further the sorts of professional writing and communication skills and credentials that modern employers look for in the games and related creative industries (and beyond) through the editing and feedback process engendered though the design briefs in class and the assessment briefs which foreground professional writing and presentation skills.

The learning and teaching methods include:

A combination of lecture materials, seminars, captured content, guided learning and independent learning, and includes a weekly seminar workshopping element where students either present or respond to their own or other's design work in a supportive, constructive and open manner.

Students will engage with preparatory reading, including, where relevant, creative design work by other students, in advance of the seminar which will combine discussion of interrelated critical ideas and texts with in-class creative or critical exercises and briefs each week. Designed to help students reflect on and apply their learning to creative and critical outputs, the seminar workshop environment acts as a safe space for developing and exchanging ideas, support, design and writing skills.

Varied learning materials such as lexical texts, visual materials, sculptural objects and other physical material prompts, video and sound objects, games and gamified texts are designed to increase student accessibility and will present them with a range of interpretive materials and approaches with which to work and develop their own thinking and creative responses.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ELI1040

Other information

The School of Arts, Humanities & Creative Industries is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Employability: this 1st year module explores game design from a range of different perspectives as an introduction to the complex and dynamic collection of areas that make up the wider games design field. This is done with an industry facing approach to generating games design concepts and ideas, planning and developing these into realised projects that have been tested and presented in the forms of professional documentation, project management and standards that a career in contemporary games design and beyond require. In focussing on and growing key design, planning and presentation skills, such as concept and idea generation, digital game design infrastructures, game control functionality, developing Game Design Documentation and more, in this module you will develop the sorts of professional abilities that will facilitate your practice as a professional games design practitioner. The skills and aptitudes developed in this module will feed forward to the wider games design and games focused modules throughout your degree, such as character and narrative design, designing game environments and levels, game development, visual narratives and virtual production.

Equally important for employability within these areas (and often overlooked) is the development of social knowledge around games design and personability.

Digital Capabilities: this module, and the programme as a whole, is built on the very latest techniques and technologies developed and employed by the games and related industries, thus ‘digital capabilities’ very much comes with the territory. Contemporary video games design and production is an inherently ‘digital’ affair of course, and this module engages at all levels with technology and digital assets and skills. In addition to these more obvious digital capabilities, this module is also designed to develop students’ capabilities and skills in digital games design documentation and presentation of prototypes, for example with planning gameplay experience, narrative progression, play testing strategies, developing game mechanics, digital and analogue prototyping techniques and work practices and internal economies. In addition, the opportunities and challenges posed by generative AI in games design will form part of the skills development of students. Appropriate use of digital media and communication platforms is increasingly important for visual arts and creative industry professionals and students will gain and develop those invaluable skills as part of this module.

As part of the module seminar workshops, you will also be encouraged to communicate with one another and to work on some exercises using SurreyLearn, Microsoft Teams, and other digital and file and output sharing platforms, skills will be carried forward to other modules across your degree and beyond.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: games design as a broad field has a significant application to human experience, human interaction and immersion that crosses borders and boundaries reaching all parts of our global cultures, while acknowledging (and hopefully embodying) those aspects that make different cultures so valuable and vibrant. Games design and its component parts can also play a very important recording and preservation role in narrativising and keeping alive and vibrant different cultures and experiences, especially those that might otherwise be silenced or endangered. The weekly seminar workshop sessions give students the opportunity to present your own games design work and to experience and respond to those of others in a friendly, constructive and open forum. Games Design students will be exposed, throughout their degree, to a wide range of approaches, textuality and visuality from all over the world and students are encouraged to bring this knowledge into their design practice right from the beginning of their study of games and the role of design in these.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: the life of a game designer can often be a challenging one, moving from project to project and often from employment to employment. This module, through workshopping, pitching and prototyping and the shared experience that comes about from sharing work with other students will help equip you for the real world setting of your current and future games design practice. You will also benefit from the experience of your peers and from your tutors who all have games design skills and experience and from periodic guest speakers attached to the Games Design programme as you progress through your degree.

This module provides students with a number of challenges which reflect the current state of the art. Students need to respond to these with inventiveness and flexibility, and are often required to research and develop their own solutions to given problems. This module also helps set the stage for more detailed discussions in later games design and games studies modules on your degree about your practice as a designer, the practicalities of building a portfolio of work and a profile as a professional in the games industries and beyond.

Sustainability: students are made aware of sustainable design and production practices around the production and presentation of games, their players and the interfaces between them. Furthermore, students may choose to produce creative work that directly addresses environmental and sustainability issues as part of their subject matter. Games design, as with all art forms, can also realise cultural sustainability goals, playing an important role in increasing and maintaining awareness of cultural identity, themes and experience.

Teachers across the School also work closely with the University of Surrey’s Institute for Sustainability to explore and promote the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.