Games for international students

This article provides an overview of the discipline, its academic nature, and a brief description of what careers a degree in game design will enable a graduate to acquire.

An increasingly popular decision for international students coming to study in the United States is to pursue a degree in the field of game design. Nearly everyone loves video games, and a career in game design in the US is a dream come true for many international students.

Studying game design in the US qualifies international students for a fulfilling and lucrative career opportunity. The time for international students to apply to programs in the US has never been better, given declines in domestic enrollment rates and a thriving video game industry with exceptionally large production budgets.

For those international students considering making the decision to study game design in the US, this page will serve as a guide to orient and inform individuals about the discipline itself and the process for studying game design. It will also answer many common questions that arise along the way.

So, what is game design? Game design is a subset of video game development, and as such, game designers must be both creative and technically skilled.

Game designers imagine, plan, and then actually build video games. Focusing on system design, level design and narrative design, game designers create the stories, levels, rules, and environments that will define the gaming experiences of tomorrow.

Although game designers are not explicitly visual artists, programmers, project managers or creative writers, they may very well serve in such capacities on game development teams. Creativity, technical programming skill and a love of video games are at the heart of game design in the US, and most game design programs offer a robust curriculum that balances these three features.

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This online game takes place in a space-themed setting. Each player takes on one of two roles. International students who are artistically gifted and adept with computers should consider attending a school at which they can study game art. Three-dimensional art is a fundamental component of game design, and creating it is a major motivating factor for students who would like to be part of the video game development process.

Game design combines artistic and technical skills to create electronic and digital entertainment. Game artists are responsible for using computer animation tools to create all visual aspects of a game, including the artwork, environments, characters, and other aesthetic attributes.

Collectively, these products of their work culminate in rich, virtual worlds, which ultimately compel video game enthusiasts around the world to spend billions annually. International students will find that game art provides numerous career opportunities in game design in the US. Career opportunities for those who study game art in the US are most often available to those who focus on game art as a component of a Bachelor of Arts in Game Design, because game art is a specific subject of focus within the game design degree.

So, international students who are interested in entry- and intermediate-level careers in the game design industry should consider a degree in game art in the US. Game Design programs require that students develop skills in game design theory, technology and programming, general art and storytelling.

International students studying game art will find themselves studying art, animation, technology, artificial intelligence, visual design, and mathematics, heavily. The choice to study game art is one that will open doors to an innovative and rewarding field; however, it requires high levels of skill in every aspect of the field, including: mathematics, computer programming, art, and organization. Game art requires the use of a great deal of higher mathematics and specialized computer software.

Because game development requires many people and resources, and there are many deadlines, schools teaching game art and design also focus on management skills. It is essential to these companies that game artists have experience, which can be gained by studying game art at a formal institution.

International students who want to study game art in the US should research programs that provide a focused Game Art or Game Design degree.