5. becker college 18. rensselaer polytechnic institute … · evaluate game design schools, so...

1. UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

Grads Salary: $67k

Grads with Game Plan: 100%

Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 37

Faculty: Joe Barns (Epic Mickey, NFL Blitz 2000, Mortal Kombat)

Cool Tech: Has tons of labs with everything game designers need, from motion capture to 3D printing to a Treadport VR.

2. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Grads Salary: N/A



Faculty: Richard Lemarchand (Uncharted 1, 2, and 3)

Cool Tech: Provides direct publishing for faculty and students to commercially release their games under the USC Publishing Games label (the first of its kind).

3. ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Grads Salary: $66k



Faculty: Gordon Goodman

Cool Tech: Launched a New Media Lab that has all the cutting edge tech for creating software and hardware, so designers are never limited.

4. DIGIPEN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Grads Salary: $63k



Faculty: Claude Comair (Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Ridge Racer DS)

Cool Tech: Has arrangements with Microsoft and Nintendo to get special dev equipment in all of their labs.

The Best Game Design Undergraduate ProgramsThere are a lot of different ways to evaluate game design schools, so we’ll look at a couple key metrics for each.

With big-name game engines like Unity and Unreal opening up access to their incredible tools for free, it’s never been easier to make your own games. But it’s not as easy as having a great idea (although you’ll want one of those too). You need a wide range of design skills and experience, along with some friendly artists and engineers.of the still-evolving game design field.

We’ve compiled their lists of the best undergraduate and graduate game design schools over the next few pages, and included some stats and fun facts about each. All of the stats are for graduates in 2015, and we’ll break down why each of those stats are key to under-standing the value of a game design program.

Want to know more? Check out The Princeton Review’s website for more info: www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/game-design

The best way to get that experience, meet the friends that’ll work alongside you to make your project awesome, and connect with the mentors that can pass on their expe-rience and wisdom is to get a degree in game design from a university. But there are a ton of universities out there, and not all of them are taking game design seriously yet.

Thankfully, The Princeton Review has been care-fully monitoring and reviewing all of the game design programs in North America for years—applying their famous analysis of universities to the unique intricacies

5. BECKER COLLEGE

Grads with Game Plan: 100%Game Courses: 189

6. THE ART INSTITUTE OF VANCOUVER

Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 157 Game Courses: 185

7. HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE

Grads Salary: $60kGrads Hired: 80%Fun Fact: Hampshire was a pioneer of Game Design programs, offering courses and degrees in the field of making awesome videogames in 1980—the earliest of any school on this list, and decades before most others.

8. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Grads Hired: 75%Grads With Shipped Game: 100%

9. DREXEL UNIVERSITY

Grads Salary: $55kGrads With Shipped Game: 100%

10. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 31Game Courses: 81

11. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

Grads Salary: $65kGame Courses: 204

12. NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY


13. CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE

Grads with Game Plan: 100%Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 198

14. VANCOUVER FILM SCHOOL

Grads With Shipped Game: 66%Grads with Game Plan: 100%

15. BRADLEY UNIVERSITY


16. FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY

Grads Hired: 70%Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 45

17. LAWRENCE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Grads Hired: 75%Grads with Game Plan: 100%

18. RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

Grads Salary: $75kGrads Hired: 35%

19. COGSWELL COLLEGE


20. SHAWNEE STATE UNIVERSITY


21. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-STOUT

Grads With Shipped Game: 100%Grads with Game Plan: 100%

22. ABERTAY UNIVERSITY


23. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ

Grads Salary: $75kGrads with Game Plan: 100%

24. SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

Grads with Game Plan: 100%Game Courses: 177

25. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 10 Game Courses: 71Fun fact: Last year, more than 200 game dev companies went to MIT to give lectures, collaborate on projects, or recruit students for jobs. That's more than any other school on this list!

GamesGreat

You Can Make

WE BELIEVE IN YOU! THE PRINCETON REVIEW RANKS

THE BEST GAME DESIGN PROGRAMS IN NORTH AMERICA

TO HELP YOU DO IT.

TOP 50 GAME DESIGN UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS (CON'T)

1 AcademicsThe Princeton Review

breaks up their analysis into 4 buckets: academics, faculty, technology, and career. The first thing they look at is academics. What sorts of courses do they teach? What real-world skills are students learning, and what methods are used to teach them? The best schools are leading the charge here with next-gen technol-ogy and hands-on development processes that mimic what game devs do in the real world.

3 TechnologyThe games industry is a

fast-moving place, and the best game design programs stay on the bleeding-edge of technology to make sure their students are learn-ing the tools they’ll need to lead the industry after graduating. VR, green screens, motion capture, and 3D printing labs are all common among the top schools.

2 FacultyThe Princeton Review also

looks at how many faculty the game design program has, what experi-ence they’ve had making successful games, and how trained they are—even measuring PhD rates. Proven developers with a track record of making incredible games command the respect of students and help guide the curriculum.

4 CareerThe proof is in the pudding,

as they say. (Which is a pretty weird phrase when you think about it.) But, in this case, the pudding is hiring rates. The Princeton Review takes very careful stock of what happens to each school’s students after they graduate. How many get hired? What’s their average salary? Do many game studios want them, or just a few?

PC Gamer has been reviewing games for decades, but reviewing college programs that teach devs how to make games is an entirely different beast. So we sat down with the brains behind The Princeton Review’s annual rankings list to find out what potential students should be looking for in schools.

26. FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY Grads Salary: $45kGrads Hired: 35%Fun Fact: Full Sail has more game design alumni than any other school on this list. Over 1,800 game designers have graduated from its program, including Oculus Rift consultant Danny Bulla!

27. ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY Grads Salary: $60kGrads Hired: 100%

28. MARIST COLLEGE Grads Salary: N/AGame Courses: 28

29. OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY Grads Hired: 50%Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 5

30. MIAMI UNIVERSITY Grads With Shipped Game: 100%Grads with Game Plan: 38%

31. ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 24 Game Courses: 65

32. NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Grads With Shipped Game: 23%Grads with Game Plan: 23%

33. NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY Grads Salary: $68kGame Courses: 15

34. RINGLING COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN Grads Salary: $60kGrads Hired: 92%

35. DEPAUL UNIVERSITY Grads with Game Plan: 100%Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 89Fun Fact: DePaul has one of the largest rosters of game design faculty, with 37 game design gurus teaching their 36 courses.

36. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN Grads Salary: $65kGrads Hired: 75%

37. KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY Grads Hired: 60%Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 20

38. TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Grads Hired: 80%Game Courses: 12

39. QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY Grads with Game Plan: 100%Game Courses: 26Fun Fact: Quinnipiac is a leader in researching games for health and education. Bill Gates' charity awarded them a grant for their HIV-AIDs prevention app called Hot, Horny, and Healthy.

40. NEW ENGLAND INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Grads With Shipped Game: 5%Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 24

41. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

42. SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY

43. CORNELL UNIVERSITY

44. WESTERN UNIVERSITY

45. CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

46. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY - CARBONDALE

47. PURDUE UNIVERSITY

48. THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA

49. THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

50. EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

TOP 50 GAME DESIGN UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS (CON'T)

Learn the importance of “counterplay” in PvP designThe designers at Riot Games love to talk about how they make sure every champion has “counterplay” built into them. By that, they mean that the opponent has an opportunity to see what their opponent is doing and then take meaningful actions to react.

EXAMPLE: Nami’s ultimate Tidal Wave is a massive, long-range AoE knock-up ability, but it travels extremely slow so that players can move out of the way if they’re paying attention.

READING MATERIAL:

bit.ly/LoLCounterplay — Tom Cadwell’s slideshow from his GDC presentation “Counterplay and Teamplay.”

HOMEWORK: Play a game of LoL and look at how you’re able to counter opposing champion’s abilities. Then play another game and look for abilities that you can’t counter, and think about why those exceptions exist.

HOMEWORK:

League of Legends

What Makes a Game Design Program Good?THE PRINCETON REVIEW EXPLAINS THEIR JUDGING PROCESS

Perhaps even more relevant, The Princeton Review also looks at how many students have already shipped a game by the time they graduate. A high percentage shows that the school is helping students build portfolios and gain meaningful experience for their resumes.

For more info on The Princeton Review’s methods, visit www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/game-design

Top 25 Game Design Graduate ProgramsSome of the schools listed here might surprise you. The Princeton Review has analyzed every aspect of these schools' programs to identify where you have the best chance of succeeding.

Learn how harsh punish-ments can increase funThere are good and bad ways to make a game challenging. The recent Kickstarter hit, Darkest Dungeon, is a great example of how to do it right. Like roguelikes, DD uses permadeath and crippling ailments to make individual units disposable. That lets you to progress your permanent camp and facilities, even when you fail during an individual mission.

EXAMPLE: Early on, the most efficient way to play is to simply grind through willing adventurers to earn money and callously discard them after they’re injured, instead of upgrading and healing them.

READING MATERIAL: bit.ly/DDCorpse — Look at how the devs respond to players’ outcry when they introduce mechanics deemed too punishing.

HOMEWORK: Play a one-hour session of Darkest Dungeon and keep track of everything you do that would be considered a “failure” in other games. Note whether or not you feel bad about that moment, like you would in another genre, and why you feel that way.

HOMEWORK:

Darkest Dungeon

1. UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Grads Salary: $63k

Grads Hired: 93%


Faculty: Ben Noel (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed)

Cool Tech: An epic studio houses many different stages that are also used for movies and commercials, which offer students paid internships.

3. UNIVERSITY OF UTAHGrads Salary: $87k

Grads Hired: 96%


Faculty: Joe Barns (Epic Mickey, NFL Blitz 2000, Mortal Kombat)

Cool Tech: Has an industry-leading scanning lab that lets devs capture full 3D CGI models and textures of real people and objects.

2. SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

Grads Salary: $61k

Grads Hired: 87%


Faculty: Dr. Matthew Streit (Halo: Reach, Saints Row The Third, South Park: The Stick of Truth)

Cool Tech: Every student gets an Alienware laptop and backpack loaded with every piece of professional software needed to make games—and they keep it after graduating!

4. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Grads Salary: N/A

Grads Hired: 90%


Faculty: Richard Lemarchand (Uncharted 1, 2, and 3)

Cool Tech: Successful student teams are given financial, legal, and office support to start their own companies through USC Games Bridge.

5. DIGIPEN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


6. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Grads Hired: 73%Game Courses: 128

7. ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


8. DREXEL UNIVERSITY

Grads With Shipped Game: 100%Grads Hired: 82%

9. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

Grads Salary: $65kGame Courses: 49

10. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY


11. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ


12. ABERTAY UNIVERSITY


13. SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN


14. TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITYGrads Salary: $78kGrads Hired: 100%

15. DEPAUL UNIVERSITY

Grads with Game Plan: 100%Studios That’ve Hired Grads: 29

16. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-STOUT

Grads Hired: N/AGame Courses: 10

17. FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY


18. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


19. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA


20. THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY - COLUMBUS

Grads Salary: $90kStudios That’ve Hired Grads: 20

21. SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY

22. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

23. UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

24. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO

25. ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY

TOP 25 GAME DESIGN GRADUATE PROGRAMS (CON'T)

5. becker college 18. rensselaer polytechnic institute … · evaluate game design schools, so...

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