Should You Get a Degree in Game Design?

By Bee Wertheimer  |  August 29, 2025 | 11:30am
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Video Games Features game design
Should You Get a Degree in Game Design?

If you have any interest in going to university for game design, you may have some questions swirling in your head—questions such as, “Why is college so expensive?” and “What even is a video game?” and “You mean people get paid to make those things?” I earned my bachelor’s in game design three months ago, where I can confidently say I learned the answer to at least one of those questions. Here are my key takeaways from the experience that will hopefully help inform your decision to pursue games studies (or not).

(Normally we try to explain what abbreviations and insider jargon mean here at Endless Mode, but we’re just going to assume that if you’re seriously considering studying game design in college you’ll understand basic terms like “UI” and “QA” and let it rip.—Ed.)

Why Study Game Design?

Before starting my program, I was possessed with fear that I wouldn’t end up liking game design because I had no idea what to expect. I had a nebulous idea that I would be “coding,” and that was about it.

At many universities, you will be making games independently and/or in very tiny groups. This means you will have a garden variety of technical obligations, including but not limited to: programming, UI/UX design, animation, lighting and rendering, 3D modeling and/or 2D asset design, technical art, audio design, level design, system design, writing, and QA testing. This multidisciplinary process is overwhelming at first, but it’s also what many developers (including myself) love about making games.

If you are a creative person with an interest in multiple artistic and/or technical pursuits (if, for instance, you’re like me and enjoy both writing and drawing) this will probably suit you very well. If you’re really into just one field—if, say, you love making art and your dream is to become a concept artist for games—I would suggest pursuing a degree in a more specialized field. Research the kind of programs you’re interested in to see what kind of work you’ll be doing. And if you’re an artistic person worried about programming, just know that it’s kinda like doing proofs in geometry.

I would like to stress that you don’t have to be a good programmer to pursue games. The point of learning coding in a game design program is to give you working knowledge of game engines so you can effectively communicate and work with other designers. This applies to every other games specialization—you learn how to do everything in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the game production pipeline.

Coding is also easier to learn than ever before; there are tons of free resources out there for game development. It’s also worth noting that the development process looks different in every game engine. So if you’re struggling to learn Unreal, that might mean Unity or Godot would be a better fit for you.

If you want to get a better understanding of what goes into making a game, I would recommend making a project in Bitsy, a free game engine by Adam De Loux. It’s very easy to learn and fun to noodle in. If you’d benefit from a guided experience, check out Anna Anthropy’s Itsy Bitsy Exercises.

What Made My Program Unique

As you may have gathered, I studied game design at an art school. This meant my experience was very different from someone who studied at a more computer science-oriented university. Of course, every university’s program is different, but there is a philosophy specific to art school I’d like to discuss.

If you’ve ever taken an art class, you’ve probably done a critique. This is when a student presents their work and the class has a discussion about where the work succeeded, what questions the work brings up, and what could be improved. The critique structure helps students discover their unique strengths and weaknesses, and the individualized feedback fosters rapid development. Critique also gets you in the habit of thinking deeply about games, which of course makes you a better designer, as well as mentally detaching your own capabilities as a creator from the success of any one particular project.

(Image: Bee’s senior capstone project, Annota Line)

The Most Important Part of University is the People You Meet

Of course, nothing you learn at university is locked behind a hefty tuition, except maybe how to deal with bad roommates. Every game design concept you’re taught at school can be learned elsewhere, for much cheaper, or even nothing at all.

I’m not the type of person who can teach themself an entire discipline, especially not something as complex as making games. I thrive on schedules, and if I don’t have a deadline I won’t get anything done. Of course, not everyone works the same way, but I personally found it incredibly enriching to be in an environment where we were constantly working on new projects.

But what makes university worth it is the people. I had the privilege of studying under professors who were both amazing teachers and actively working in the games industry, so I learned about the principles of the craft as well as the nature of being a professional designer. My cohort of peers were incredibly talented game developers who motivated me to always put forth my best work, and were constant sources of inspiration. Also, just being surrounded by people who love the same things as you is a deeply wonderful experience. I really cannot understate the value of having game dev friends. If you want to look at it from a career perspective—which I honestly hate to do, because making friends is not “networking,” and if you approach it as such it leaves everyone feeling weird and exploited—it’s likely your college pals will recommend you for a job in the future. You have no idea how many cover letters my poor professors have edited for me.

It’s also worth mentioning that universities typically bring students out to game design events. My school had a booth at GDC this year, which was an amazing opportunity to meet game developers and gawk at Waymos.

Getting a Job with A Game Design Degree

The games industry is in a bad spot right now, and unfortunately you’re likely not going to find a job in game design fresh out of college—especially from a bachelor’s program. You’ll be competing with countless people with established reputations and substantially more experience who have been recently laid off, which is obviously unfair to everyone.

Much like any other creative endeavor, game design is something you pursue because you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else, at very large risk of failure. If you can see yourself doing something else, I’d suggest seriously weighing whether the struggle of carving out a career in an industry that actively hates you seems worth it to you.

Conclusion

Studying game design is a delightful experience that is absolutely worth doing—whether that’s in a university setting or on your own, though, depends on what works best for you.

If you’re curious, I got my BFA in Game Arts from Pratt Institute, as part of the program’s inaugural class. To get an idea of the type of games you’d be making in a bachelor’s program, you can check out my portfolio (note that I’m a narrative designer, so my games may be more text-heavy than yours).

If you have any questions about studying game design—or just wanna chat—feel free to message me on Bluesky or shoot me an email.

Bee Wertheimer is a games writer based in New York City. You can find them on Bluesky or visit their website at beewertheimer.com.

 
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