The NYU Game Center is dedicated to the exploration of games as a cultural form and game design as creative practice. Our approach to the study of games is based on a simple idea: games matter. Just like other cultural forms – music, film, literature, painting, dance, theater – games are valuable for their own sake. Games are worth studying, not merely as artifacts of advanced digital technology, or for their potential to educate, or as products within a thriving global industry, but in and of themselves, as experiences that entertain us, move us, explore complex topics, communicate profound ideas, and illuminate elusive truths about ourselves, the world around us, and each other.

The Game Center is the Department of Game Design at the Tisch School of the Arts. Our mission is to graduate the next generation of game designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and critics, and to advance the field of games by creating a context for advanced scholarship and groundbreaking work. The Game Center’s students, both undergraduates and graduates, are drawn from diverse disciplines including computer programming, visual art, sound and audio, animation, writing, architecture, english, law, history, all joined together by the central discipline of game design.

We live in a time in which games are evolving in radical and important ways. Our students and faculty are defining the cultural landscape for the next hundred years.

Academics

The NYU Game Center is The Department of Game Design at New York University’s world-famous Tisch School of the Arts. We teach a wide range of courses in the design, development, and scholarship of games. And there are many ways to study here, including a BFA in Game Design, an MFA in Game Design, an undergraduate minor, and a range of courses open to anyone studying at NYU. Click here to learn more about our academic programs and courses.

People

More than just an academic department, the NYU Game Center is a community of people drawn together by their love of games. Our faculty are some of the leading names in game design today, including award-winning game designers, industry veterans and entrepreneurs, and influential scholars and researchers. Our students and alumni work all around the globe designing their own games, working at studios, and changing the landscape of games. And you’ll find none more passionate and helpful than the Game Center staff. Click here to take a closer look at the people inside the NYU Game Center.

Events

The NYU Game Center is a thriving hub for the amazing New York City game scene. Our busy schedule includes lectures, workshops, exhibitions, tournaments, playtests, and many other strange and wonderful events. Most of these events are free and open to the public – we hope to see you at one soon! Be sure to get on our mailing list – and check out past and upcoming offerings in our events section.

Projects

At the NYU Game Center, we learn by doing. Our students and faculty are constantly making games, writing articles, and organizing events – sometimes alone, but usually in collaboration with each other. At the NYU Game Center, our students find their voices as creative practitioners, preparing them to become groundbreaking visionaries that will change the face of games. Click here to take a look at a wide range of projects from our past and present students.

Blog

The NYU Game Center is at the heart of the games community in New York. Our blog is a record of the amazing events in NYC, the work our graduates are doing, and the awards and recognition our community members are earning. Take a look at our blog to see news and announcements, read about events, and catch a bit of the NYU Game Center vibe.

Visit Us

We are now regularly hosting virtual information sessions and in-person guided tours here at the NYU Game Center! If you’d like to learn more about the program and ask questions, click here to sign up for a group tour or virtual info session.