BA in Games and Interactive Media

Students in APU’s games and interactive media major benefit from a well-rounded curriculum integrating storytelling, game mechanics, and technical art, preparing them for careers in the video game and interactive media industry.

Make a Difference as a Video Game Designer

56-58 units

Bring your creative ideas to life as you prepare for an innovative career in the games and interactive media industries. This immersive degree program is a confluence of story and play; we believe that truth may be found in both. 

Learn to build games of all types, benefitting from a well-rounded curriculum that integrates the iterative process of storytelling, game mechanics, art, sound, and more. Study under supportive faculty-mentors who work in the industry, and alongside a collaborative community of students engaged in art and design. Capitalize on the department’s connections with video game companies such as Blizzard, EA, and Square Enix, and APU’s proximity to the multimedia industry hub of Los Angeles.

At APU, we are not simply game makers, we are game changers!

Requirements

GAME 101Game Development Process2
GAME 105Game Studies2
GAME 111Game Art I3
GAME 115Game Development I3
GAME 121Game Production2
GAME 130Game Design and Theory3
GAME 135Programming for Interactive Media3
CINE 200History of Art and Music for Cinematic Arts3
GAME 210Game Narrative3
GAME 211Game Art II3
GAME 215Game Level and Environmental Design3
GAME 221Game UX and UI Design2
GAME 225Game Development II3
GAME 231Sound Design for Games2
GAME 310Game Prototype Studio3
GAME 3213
GAME 325Game Development III3
GAME 394Game Studio Apprenticeship3
GAME 475Civic Engagement Through Games 1, 21-3
or CINE 490 Internship and Career Preparation for Cinematic Arts
GAME 494Game Studio Capstone I3
Total Units53-55
1

Students may take 1-3 units of CINE 490.

2

GAME 475 meets the General Education Civic Knowledge and Engagement requirement.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this program shall be able to:
  1. demonstrate broad understanding of game design and development, focusing on game theory and mechanics, level and environmental design, immersion, game user experience.
    2.
  2. apply critical principles and skills pertinent to games and interactive media duties in their employment and professional practice.
    3.
  3. work in diverse global contexts and apply universally respectful and globally centric practices pertinent to games and interactive media duties in international and domestic contexts.
    4.
  4. demonstrate understanding of contemporary research questions, results, and areas of application relating to the design and development of computer games.