best video game design schools in california

NYFA Student Game Design Highlight Reel

A reel of student work from New York Film Academy's Game Design Department in both LA and NYC.

The New York Film Academy's Los Angeles Game Design School pairs the academic rigor of a college classroom with the hands-on creative aspects of a lab workshop. The New York Film Academy's LA Game Design School believes no single skill is enough to be a great game designer. Instead, our LA game design program focuses on teaching a blend of technical, creative, and practical skills. The New York Film Academy's Los Angeles Game Design School seeks to ensure that students leave school with the greatest amount of knowledge and skills possible.

Students at the Academy's Game Design School in LA receive a hands-on education that emphasizes learning by doing alongside in-class instruction that immerses students in the history, theory, and types of game design. Through this unique combination of continuous practice and guided learning, the Academy's Game Design School in Los Angeles challenges students to become the best game designers they can be.

Run Your Own Indie Game Studio

Part of what makes the Academy one of the best game design schools in Los Angeles is at the core of the curriculum is the Game Studio course—repeated multiple times in each program. Students get the opportunity to lead their own game studio with two to three classmates, something that is not common at other video game design colleges. Student game design studios build a functioning digital game in one semester with mentorship and hands-on coding from a professional game programmer. The programmer both codes as part of the student team as well as educates the team members on how to code and how to manage using Agile software development.

This teaching approach—teaming students with professional programmers who code with students on their indie games—is unique to NYFA's Game Design School in LA and one of its most popular features.

LEARN TO USE INDUSTRY STANDARD TOOLS

While studying at the Academy students will gain experience with art and animation tools such as Adobe Creative Suite and Autodesk's Maya (3D animation software); a variety of programming tools including Unity; and Agile tools such as JIRA and BitBucket. Whether you enter our program as an experienced programmer or as a technical novice, you'll leave the New York Film Academy's Los Angeles Game Design School with the ability to intelligently use modern game design tools.

Storytelling Through Games

Many top game design schools in Los Angeles focus exclusively on the technical aspects of game design. This creates talented programmers and designers but neglects many of the essential elements that separate a good game from a great game. Our Game Design School in Los Angeles is designed to teach a holistic approach to game design—creative elements are just as important as technical ones. Students pursuing a game design degree in LA will learn established interactive story structures and gain the tools to expand them. Lively discussions deconstructing popular games such Mass Effect, Deux Ex, Red Dead Redemption, Portal, and others will help students gain the creative expertise they need to make their unique vision a reality.

Build a Game Design Portfolio

One of the greatest advantages of studying at the New York Film Academy's Los Angeles Game Design School is the portfolio that it allows you to build. Since the game design curriculum is built around the idea of learning by doing, students will find themselves constantly working on different games and projects. By the time they graduate, they will have a portfolio of full games, smaller prototypes, game deconstructions, business analyses, pitches, and stories.

Game Design Courses LA

After enrolling at the Academy's Game Design School in LA, students study a well-rounded and practical curriculum that pairs lectures with faculty-supervised workshops. Students can expect to take on a comparable game design course load as the following example.

Game Studio	Narrative Design Workshop	Game Design Workshop
Video Game Analysis	Video Game Industry	Introduction to 3D Art
Improvisational Acting	2D Game Design	Introduction to Game Programming
Playcentric Design	System Literacy	Publishing Video Games
Mobile Game Design	Level Design	Usability Testing for Games
History of Video Games	Games as Art	Art Direction for Game Developers
3D Game Design	Narrative Design Workshop	Multiplayer Game Design
Business of Video Game	Free to Play Game Design	The Art of Game Producing
Narrative Theory	Marketing Video Games	Object Oriented Programming
3D Art & Animation

Game Design Classes LA

Students are able to enroll in a game design class at the Academy's Los Angeles Game Design School at different points throughout the year. To view the start dates and tuition for each of the game design programs, click here.

Game Design Degrees LA

Offered exclusively at the Academy's Los Angeles campus, students may obtain a game design degree through one of the following options.

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Game Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Game Design
Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) in Game Design

Game Design Programs LA

If a student wishes to enroll in a non-degree game design program, it is advised he or she looks into the Academy's one-year conservatory program.

One-Year Conservatory Game Design Program

Game Design Faculty LA

The faculty at the Academy's Game Design School in Los Angeles is comprised of an award-winning team of experienced faculty members who are also professional game designers. With each instructor coming from a diverse background, students have the opportunity to hone in on a certain aspect of game design while learning the latest trends and developments in the always-evolving game industry.

	Chris Swain: Having worked in the video game industry for over two decades, Swain led over twenty award-winning game projects for companies that include Disney, Microsoft, Sony, Activision, Warner Brothers, Acclaim, MTV, and others. He was a founder and director the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab at USC and co-authored one of the most popular textbooks on game design. He speaks about games at events around the world including GDC, Korean Game Conference, Games for Change, and many others.
	Scott Rogers: Scott Rogers is the game designer and creative director of more than fifty AAA games for Disney, Sony, Capcom, Namco, and THQ. His games have sold over 50 million copies worldwide. Over his career, Scott has partnered with major licensors including Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon, MGA, and DC Entertainment. For the last four years, Scott was an Imagineer at Walt Disney Imagineering's R&D department where he helped create interactive experiences installed in Disney's parks including: Mickey's Fun Wheel Challenge, Legends of Frontierland and several app-based interactive games. Scott has authored two books on game design: Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design and Swipe This! The Guide to Touchscreen Game Design. Both books are top sellers and Level Up! is a #1 best seller on Amazon.com.
	Richard Wyckoff: Starting his career in the mid 1990s, Wyckoff has established himself as a video game designer and manager for such companies as Electronic Arts, Vivendi Universal, and Dreamworks. Some of the titles he helped guide through completion such titles as Full Spectrum Warrior and Flight Unlimited. He is the CEO and co-founder of Reverge Studios, LLC, which released the hit game 2D fighting game Skullgirls.

Game Design Alumni

Since its inception, the Academy's Game Design School in LA has consistently graduated accomplished game design alumni who have achieved their career goals in many of the different areas of video game design. NYFA does not represent that these are typical or guaranteed career outcomes nor does it have a career placement office. The success of these alumni is a testament to their hard work, talent and circumstances.

Contact Us

If you are interested in learning more about the Academy's Game Design School in Los Angeles, please feel free to call the Academy's offices at +1 (818) 333-3558 or follow one of the links below to get additional information or download an application.

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New York Film Academy Los Angeles
New York Film Academy

3300 Riverside Drive
Burbank, CA 91505

Phone: (818) 333-3558