Whether you grew up creating worlds in Minecraft or hoping to work on the next Mario or League of Legends, our BA in Game Design and Development program is a stepping-stone into the exciting field of game design and its many applications, including entertainment, education, medicine, virtual reality, esports and more.
As a game designer, passion is your key to success in the fast-growing and fast-paced gaming industry. The skills you acquire will prepare you for a variety of fulfilling careers. You could design virtual reality experiences for theme parks, develop military training simulations, create games for the healthcare industry or even revolutionize course delivery in schools.
Our BA in Game Design and Development program provides students with a comprehensive background in game and interactive media design alongside hands-on experience through game labs, research projects and internships. All students take core classes in the major and choose concentrations that allow them to focus on their skills and interests. Our concentrations include programming, technology, design process, art, game studies, game writing, business and audio. We encourage and support double majors with programs such as computer science and theater.
A unique feature of our program is the game lab where students work in interdisciplinary teams to build game prototypes. The game lab is offered as a multi-semester sequence beginning in your sophomore year. During your senior year, the program culminates in a capstone experience when students take the Senior Project and Seminar.
Through the QU in LA program, you can spend a semester in California interning at companies such as Electronic Arts, Blizzard Entertainment and Facebook. In addition, our students have worked as counselors at iD Tech, a prestigious game design camp with sites all across America.
The Center for Game Development (CGD) supports the continued development of select student and faculty games by providing financial support and resources during the summer. CGD also fosters a shared and continuing culture of technological expertise and innovation.
The Game Design and Development program collaborates with partners inside and out of the Quinnipiac community to bring innovative ways of teaching others to life.
Professor Elena Bertozzi and a team of GDD students are working with the Institute for Disease Modeling in Seattle WA on a game-based application to educate public health workers in Liberia and other African countries.
Objectives:
Email Elena Bertozzi if you are interested in joining.
Collaborate with Dr. Victor Francone of the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine on educational materials to teach medical students DNA replication.
Learning objectives:
Email Jonah Warren if you are interested in joining.
Collaborate with Frederick Scholl, director of the cybersecurity program, on creating game scenarios where players learn how to identify and respond to email phishing scams.
Learning objectives:
Email Frederick Scholl if you are interested in joining.
Kim Hieftje and her team at XRPeds, within the department of Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, focus on the use of extended reality (virtual, augmented, and mixed reality) and game technology in applications, interventions, and research with the goal of improving lives and reducing disparities among youth and their families.
Objectives:
Use game-based project management skills to coordinate teamwork
Develop ways to integrate VR and motion capture technology in pediatric care
Email Elena Bertozzi if you are interested in joining.
The Game Design and Development website provides additional information about experiential learning opportunities for students and connections to student and alumni work.
“What stood out to me about the Game Design and Development program at Quinnipiac was the friendliness and openness of the professors in the classes I took. Each of the projects I worked on either helped me learn something new or served as a portfolio piece when I was looking for a career. Through many of the projects and games I created during my time with the GDD program, I gained a bunch of experience working on small teams, tracking development tasks and milestones and organizing the entirety of a project.”
In my opinion, the most unique element of the Game Design and Development program at Quinnipiac was its open-ended nature. We all learned the skills and tools of the trade but how we applied those was entirely up to us. We were pushed to explore our creativity and treat our work like a job. Our efforts directly correlated with the quality of our projects and it was entirely applied learning. This structure gave me a very strong work ethic and the mindset I needed to explore this industry professionally.
Katie Rosell ’20
Even at 14 years old, Katie Rosell ’20 was ready to leave her mark in the video game world. All you had to do was watch her play. She owned Nintendo 64 the way Super Mario owned the best mustache.
She jumped. She ran. She saved the day. But still, something was missing.
“I started to realize, ‘Wow, I like playing games, but wouldn’t it be even more fun to make my own games?’ It just kind of hit me,” said Rosell, a game design and development major with a concentration in art and a minor in computer science.
But there was more to it than that. “Grand Theft Auto,” “Call of Duty,” the games with the big budgets and the big development teams had male protagonists.
So Rosell set out to leave her mark at her first game design camp in 2012 in suburban Boston.
“I walked into the room the first day,” Rosell said, “and I was the only girl among 38 guys — and they were all older than me.”
Today, Rosell is making her own games and working collaboratively to build more sophisticated projects. She is among the most talented artists in the GDD program and animates her characters by hand as well as with motion capture and 3-D modeling.
In the Motion Analysis Laboratory on the North Haven Campus, Rosell learned how to give life to her characters, including a fisherman. Rosell wore a special motion capture suit with sensors and pretended she was fishing — casting the line, reeling in a fish. Again and again.
The computer picked up her movements and compiled the data as 3-D modeling. Suddenly, her digital fisherman had scored the catch of the day.
“I’ve found that people see what you’re good at. Your talent speaks for itself,” Rosell said. “I just want to keep building my portfolio and getting better.”
She credits Associate Professor Elena Bertozzi, Assistant Professor Jonah Warren and Clinical Professor Juan Garbalosa, the director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory, among her mentors at Quinnipiac.
“In my major, I’ve never encountered people who’ve said, ‘Oh, she’s a girl. She can’t do this.’ I’ve never felt that vibe here,” said Rosell, whose older sister, Erika Rosell, earned her MBA from Quinnipiac in May. “It’s always just been, ‘Are you experienced enough to tackle this problem?’ That’s how the program works — and I love that so much."
Our BA in Game Design and Development positions you for a growing number of specialized and in-demand opportunities. Graduates gain valuable skills suited for a wide array of potential careers.
Animator
Art Director
Asset Design
Character Design
Concept Artist
Texture Artist
Augmented & Virtual Reality Designer
Game Designer
Level Design
Motion Capture Designer
Usability/Play Testing
Writer
AI Programmer
Audio Programmer
Engine Programmer
Graphics Programmer
Network Programmer
Programming for Game Play Design
Sound Design
Our Living-Learning Communities offer the opportunity for first-year students to live and engage in a community of like-minded peers. Bolstered by mentorship from faculty and staff, these communities provide a strong foundation for students to develop — both academically and personally — into professionals, leaders, citizens and lifelong learners.
The eSports Arena LLC is for students interested in competitive gaming. Students can compete against other schools as part of the QU eSports team, participate in open tournaments, attempt to set records in speedrunning or stream their incredible gameplay as they live, share strategies and cheer on peers also striving for the pinnacle of gaming skill. Popular or obscure, single-player or team-oriented, all games and all players wanting to amplify their abilities and reach are welcome!
This LLC is open to all majors and may be of special interest to students majoring in Game Design and Development and Talent Management.
The Engineering and Computer Science LLC is for new students in the School of Computing and Engineering interested in building academic skills, community and friendship. This LLC emphasizes hands-on activities and helps support members to become more engaged students who understand how to make a difference at QU and in the world.
The first annual GameDevCT Game Pitch Competition took place on Saturday, April 30 at Quinnipiac University. Game types ranged from digital games to card games and board games. 37 unique teams pitched their creations, with winners earning assistance establishing their business, advice from veteran game developers and cash prizes.
Information about next year's competition will be announced in the near future.
Our undergraduate admissions counselors are here to answer any questions you may have and help you navigate the application process.