Game Studies is an interdisciplinary field which synthesizes literary, social scientific, artistic, and computational approaches to understand how games, computational media, and play shape society, technological development, culture, and the human sense of self. Since its founding in the early 21st century, games research has moved to incorporate design practice as well, leading to exciting challenges in synthesizing critical analyses of culture with the production of new forms of interactive and experiential media. In response to these challenges, Rensselaer established the first graduate program in Critical Game Design in the United States. Its faculty and students are scholars, storytellers, programmers, artists, and media makers at the global forefront of this rapidly emerging field and industry.
Program Overview
Students who earn a Master’s degree in Critical Game Design (CGD) design and develop their own games while also familiarizing themselves with critical game studies scholarship. They are students who are excited about taking their undergraduate design experience to the next level, and who want to work independently or on research teams to help push the boundaries of game design practice, entrepreneurship, games technology, and game analysis.
Students take a seminar course in the cultural analyses of games and interactive media as well as a course in game design research methods. Rotating classes featuring cutting edge research in game studies and game design are offered each semester, covering such topics as cultural heritage and historical simulation, phenomenology of media and interactivity, sound and musical play, and participatory play research with local communities. Through free electives and HASS electives, students have the opportunity to design their own curriculum to apply skills from media studies, the arts, cognitive science, economics, and science & technology studies to their own projects.
All Critical Game Design MS students conduct an independent, year-long Master’s Project under the advisement of a GEM faculty member. The Master’s Project is a demonstration of the student’s first steps into the world of independent game design research, and a portfolio piece that can serve graduates as they enter the workforce, establish their own independent games studio, or continue their scholarly work.
Master’s Projects include a production aspect, such as a deliverable game, interactive installation, scholarly investigation, or tech demo, as well as written descriptive research documentation of how the project fits into the larger field of games. Some students pursue projects largely independent of their advisor's research agenda; others may work collaboratively with their advisor or on a team on an ongoing broader project.
Admissions
The CGD community is scholarly, highly creative, and committed to critical analysis of and experimentation with games and interactive media. Our MS students come from a highly diverse population, including co-terminal students from our undergraduate Games & Simulation Arts & Sciences major, as well as new members of our community coming from varied yet complementary backgrounds such as computer science, media studies, and art.
Watch the MS in CGDS Info session.
Questions about the Master’s program in Critical Game Design should be directed to the Graduate Program Advisor for GEM, Kate Mertus (mertuk@rpi.edu).
Program Outcomes
Our Critical Game Design MS program prepares students to:
- Develop their own game or interactive media project aligned with games research.
- Apply concepts that demonstrate knowledge about the cultural and technological dimensions of games and experiential media.
- Analyze, compare, and show critical understanding and practical competency within chosen research focus.
- Communicate effectively to specialized and general audiences.
Spotlight
Critical Game Design students work with faculty and staff to curate the Interactive Media Archaeology Lab, a repository of retro game consoles, CRT TVs, board games, and textual and paratextual archival game materials. MS students also have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty in the design and making facilities in the Corridor of Creativity, and on VR and CAVE simulation and experimental media in the Emergent Reality Lab. Games & Experiential Media department faculty and students annually attend the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, CA.
After Graduation
Graduates from this program work in game development and design studios across the globe, and have founded their own independent game studios in New York State and beyond. Some have continued their education in national and international PhD or MFA graduate programs, and others apply their skills within industry and policy spaces as programmers, designers, artists, and writers.