Undergraduate

Games Design and Creative Writing

Gamer
Creative_Writing_and_English
close-up of student writing in diary
Man standing next to computer in digital design lab
Students in the Digital Design PC Lab.
Join the No. 1 community for student satisfaction and develop your unique style through Game Jams, Open-Mics and Student-Led Literary magazines.
Learn from experts who’ve worked on BAFTA-winning games and led projects across Europe, while getting hands-on experience with industry-standard facilities.
As well as learning how to create games, you’ll master literary techniques to craft immersive narratives taking your storyline to a whole new level.
In your final year, you’ll participate in a collaborative game project, giving you the chance to design and build a real, functioning game for your portfolio.
Hull is one of only two universities in the country to offer this combination, and the only one in the North, giving you the chance to be a key player in the industry when you graduate.
Gamer
Creative_Writing_and_English
close-up of student writing in diary
Man standing next to computer in digital design lab
Students in the Digital Design PC Lab.

Visit us

Book an Open Day

Code

Duration

Mode

  • Standard course
  • With a foundation year

Typical offer

What does this mean?

Create video games, write stories and gain key employability skills for one of the U.K’s fastest growing creative industries on this Games Design and Creative Writing Degree.

Our programme encourages you to create cutting-edge games and craft unforgettable narratives through mastery of a technical skillset and an immersive approach to story. Join the No. 1 community for student satisfaction and develop your unique style through Game Jams, Open-Mics and Student-Led Literary magazines.

Join our exciting, unique programme that opens doors to a vast array of employment opportunities and develop your creativity and craft to industry-standard and beyond.

  • 90% of students

    in work or further study 15 months after graduating 1

  • Ranked 1st

    for Student Satisfaction 2

  • Cutting edge tech

    like our Virtuix Omni VR treadmill

  • Industry-standard

    software and hardware

  • BAFTA-Winning experts

    & bestselling authors teach on this course.

Swipe
Course overview
Module options

About this course

Games Design and Creative Writing are a perfect pairing – you need both to create successful games, best-selling narratives and interactive storytelling.

Learn from experts who’ve worked on BAFTA-winning games and led projects across Europe, while getting hands-on experience with industry-standard facilities. You’ll have access to cutting-edge technology including our Virtual Reality lounge, complete with Virtuix Omni VR Treadmill and fully equipped Mac and PC labs with the latest digital media software.

You’ll hone your narrative craft through practical workshops and open discussions, taking advantage of the welcoming and student-focused community. Develop key skills to enhance your writer’s approach and experiment with genre, form & style as you create unique and exciting narratives, from Fantasy and Science Fiction to scripts and short stories, poems and non-fiction.

Our classes focus on co-creation and the student voice. You’ll collaborate with students across a range of disciplines, honing your skills in communication, problem-solving and teamwork. You’ll workshop projects with your peers, deepening your skills through peer-support and regular feedback to hone your craft and skillset with each class.

With our strong industry connections, you’ll enjoy study trips, guest lectures and writing challenges. Get involved beyond the classroom by joining the Game Republic’s annual Student Showcase to present your work to top employers, and design, edit & publish your writing in our student-led magazine Document 1.

Scheduled study hours and how you’re assessed

Throughout your degree, you’re expected to study for 1,200 hours per year. That’s based on 200 hours per 20 credit module. And it includes scheduled hours, time spent on placement and independent study. How this time is divided across the year varies and depends on the module you are studying.

How you'll be assessed depends on the course you study, and the modules you choose. You may be assessed through a mix of examinations, coursework, presentations and group projects.

Choose your modules

Each year, you’ll study modules worth a certain number of credits, and you need 120 credits per year. Most modules are 20 credits – so you’ll study six modules each year. Some longer modules, such as a dissertation, are worth more. In these cases, you’ll study fewer modules - but the number of credits will always add up to 120. Some modules are compulsory, some are optional, so you can build a course that’s right for you.

Preparing for Learning in Higher Education

This module is designed to give you the best possible start to your university studies, making sure you have all the essential skills you need to succeed. Through lectures and workshops we will teach you how to write in an academic style, how to find quality sources, how to reference work, culminating in writing up a mini-research project.

Core•20 credits

Introduction to Study in the Humanities

This module equips you with a suite of analytical and theoretical tools to support you as you progress along your academic journey. You'll develop an interdisciplinary understanding of approaches to study in the humanities by working with a variety of resources, including novels, films and aspects of the visual arts.

Core•20 credits

Research in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education

This module will equip you with the necessary skills to conduct and analyse research in a specific interest, supported by academics within your subject. You'll navigate through the research process, from identifying an area of interest to presenting their findings to your peers.

Core•20 credits

Group Challenge (Humanities)

Formulate and execute a group led enquiry into texts, cultural artifacts, film, music or dance. You'll explore their topics in groups at supervised workshops and develop questions on the cultural object relates to the living world of human experience, as well as developing your own methods to answer these questions.

Compulsory•20 credits

Foundation in Data Analysis

Develop a strong foundation in data collection and analysis. This module will introduce you to qualitative and quantitative data and how to analyse it; the collection of primary and secondary data; the production of high quality graphics; and report writing.

Compulsory•20 credits

Academic Writing Skills

Developing confidence in expression, oral as well as written, is a key feature of this module, which also aims to familiarise you with submission and assessment procedures in the context of Higher Education. This is a clear building block onto your degree programme and places you at a distinct advantage when you move into the following year.

Compulsory•20 credits

Students who require Foundation Year study will register on the Media Studies with Foundation Year programme.

Upon successful completion, you will progress directly onto the programme of your choice. The Foundation Year has been designed to prepare you for entry on to the degree.
6 Modules

Critical Game Studies

In order to create innovative and original game experiences, it’s important to understand where games came from and the current landscape of the games industry. In this module you will explore the historical, social and political contexts of games, play and design. We’ll look at how to analyse games, how games get made, the people that make them and games from a consumer perspective. The module will perform analysis on video games and its industry including topics such as gender, representation, misogyny in video games, Law, ethics, regulation and censorship. will consider sustainable game development practices and generate original concepts for game designs that could “change the world”.

Compulsory•20 credits

Facts into Art

Discover how to convert real life into good storytelling. Extend your creative writing skills by generating ideas from daily life, and crafting them into well-conceived, skilled pieces.

Compulsory•20 credits

Game Design & Prototyping

You probably have a number of ideas for games you’d like to make. It’s time you started making them. You will develop your own game concepts by applying game design theories and principles and bring your ideas to life by learning to prototype them within a game engine. This module will build on your scripting skills from the ground up through small simple game prototypes, providing you with the skills to create your first finished game project.

Compulsory•20 credits

Introduction to Game Audio

The creation and implementation of effective audio is central to game design –supporting dramatic story-telling, immersion, interactivity, game mechanics, as well as emotional and physiological engagement. In this module you will explore some of the creative and technical challenges faced when designing and implementing game audio. The knowledge and skills you acquire in this module will help you to use audio more effectively in your own game projects and will inform future collaborative work with audio practitioners and interdisciplinary creative teams.

Compulsory•20 credits

Poetry, Performance, Play

Do you love the sound of words, the rhythm of poetry and the power of the human voice? Then this module is for you. Join us to learn how to craft your words into shape as you play with form and perform your own monologues, sonnets, haiku and more, letting your words travel out through the dark.

Compulsory•20 credits

The Writer’s Toolkit

‘The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms’ – Muriel Rukeyser. This module will help you to nourish the writer within you, and introduce you to the key concepts that will allow your imagination to flourish through writing exercises, workshops and advice from published writers.

Compulsory•20 credits
6 Modules

Scriptwriting

Learn about story, plot, characterisation, dialogue, structure and adaptation. Develop your skills in giving and receiving feedback on creative work. Learn how to work effectively in a group, sharing work, encouraging other writers and being encouraged by others to be the best scriptwriter you can be.

Compulsory•20 credits

The Storyteller’s Art

Write your own tales of transformation and adventure, drawing on the world’s greatest stories studied in this module.

Optional•20 credits

Level Design

Excessive guidance markers, compasses and mini maps can often feel contrived in video games. A well designed level should be able to guide the player using the landscape and the game environment. Find out how you can do this in your own games as we explore principles and theories of level design and put them into practice by making a 3D version of an imagined game world. In this module you will look at generating suitable level designs and prototyping them in a level blockout. We will explore building 3D environments using geometry and terrain and adding interaction through scripting game logic to enhance the players journey.

Optional•20 credits

Rapid Prototyping

Make a game a week. That’s the essential premise of this module. You will be provided with different themes on a weekly basis and challenged to produce a working game prototype as efficiently as possible, aiming for strict deadlines. By the end of the module you will have accrued a portfolio of functional game prototypes for inclusion in a game design portfolio as well as a library of scripts, sounds, images and other assets that can be reused in future game design prototypes.

Optional• credits

The Short Story

Do you love reading, writing or listening to short stories? Immerse yourself in classic and contemporary stories, learn about how writers deliver their magic, using limited word counts to make every word sing. Go on to craft your own stories, drawing on the limitations of the form to turn it into a strength.

Optional•20 credits

Writing Poetry Now

Do you want to take your poetry further? If you are ready to become a more skilled practitioner, able to present your work to an audience, and willing to go deeper into your study of contemporary poetry, then join us. Learn how exciting contemporary poetry is, and feel more confident in your own contributions to the poetry world.

Optional•20 credits

Collaborative Game Project

Choose your own specialism and work with other students from various disciplines as you work together to develop a complete game project. The module presents the opportunity to learn from one another, to develop new skills and apply fresh approaches. Practice important skills such as team work, project management and communication as you work collaboratively to produce a high quality game project that can be used as a portfolio piece upon graduation.

Optional•40 credits

Music and Sound for Media

This practical project-based module supports the development of specialised creative and technical skills involved in the production of sound and music for visual media. You can undertake a variety of projects, including films, games, music videos, interactive installations, and performances with visual projection. As projects are developed, general principles relating to the interaction of sight and sound will be explored, such as functionality, audio-visual correspondence and implementation.

Optional•20 credits
8 Modules

Creative Writing Portfolio

You will intrigue us with your fascinating characters, move us as they tackle dilemmas, arcing across landscapes set in believable worlds. You will entice us with your lyricism and imagery, and draw us in with your control of language. As your stories and poems of the unexpected buzz across the page, you will make us want to read on.

Optional•20 credits

Creative Writing Portfolio: Preparation

Everyone has a story to tell – through Creative Writing Portfolio: Preparation, you will research, plan and begin development of a creative project that is uniquely yours. Continue your development with masterclass seminars and writing workshops that will provide you with the skills needed to take your creative project from conception to completion.

Optional•20 credits

Emerging Technologies

The Emerging Technologies module will allow you to explore new design trends that have developed while you have been studying for your degree. You will work with students from other School of Arts degree programmes to develop original applications of these ideas and technologies.

Optional•40 credits

Major Project

You will have the opportunity to focus on a specific interest in order to produce a substantial practical design projector prototype. You should aspire to the highest academic and professional standards as this module can act as a gateway toward employment or further study leading to an advanced degree.

Optional•40 credits

Professional Portfolio Design

In this module, you will have the opportunity to refine and develop the portfolio begun at the commencement of your degree into a resource optimised for your preferred role or roles in the creative industries.

Optional•40 credits

Writing the City

Do you want to write dystopian fiction? Or imagine how to make our cities happier, more democratic places to live? Then Writing The City is the module for you, with its opportunities for debate, writing, workshopping and editing your view of the city.

Optional•20 credits

Writing the Novel

Learn to read like a writer and write like a reader as we encourage you to develop the story that is smouldering inside you. This module reveals many of the secrets of how to plan, write, edit and rewrite long-form prose. Upon completion, you will have the skills, technique, drive and determination to begin writing a novel – your novel.

Optional•20 credits

Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror: Writing the Wondrous and the Weird

A module for those for whom magic is real, technology is limitless and there are monsters hiding around every corner – Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror: Writing the Wondrous and the Weird will take you on a journey through your imagined world and encourage you to explore, to play and to craft high-quality genre fiction.

Optional•20 credits

Writing for Publication

Dive into the dynamic world of publishing, where each week we will explore the key challenges and opportunities faced by writers today. Through seminar discussions, guest speakers, and hands-on projects, you will learn how to craft compelling narratives, analyse market trends, and develop strategic approaches to getting your work published.

Optional•20 credits
9 Modules

Playlist

Ed Hurst

Course Overview 2 mins

Game Republic Showcase

Course highlight 2 mins

Student Showreel 2023

Course highlight 3 mins

Entry requirements

What do I need?

When it comes to applying to university, you'll need a certain number of UCAS points. Different qualifications and grades are worth a different amount of points. For this course, you'll need…

Use UCAS's calculator to work out your estimated points

We consider experience and qualifications from the UK and worldwide which may not exactly match the combinations above.

But it's not just about the grades - we'll look at your whole application. We want to know what makes you tick, and about your previous experience, so make sure that you complete your personal statement.

Have questions? Our admissions team will be happy to help.

What do I need?

If you require a student visa to study or if your first language is not English you will be required to provide acceptable evidence of your English language proficiency level.

See other English language proficiency qualifications accepted by the University of Hull.

If your English currently does not reach the University’s required standard for this programme, you may be interested in one of our English language courses.

Visit your country page to find out more about our entry requirements.

Fees & funding

How much is it?

Additional costs you may have to pay

Your tuition fees will cover most costs associated with your programme. There are some extra costs that you might have to pay, or choose to pay, depending on your programme of study and the decisions you make:

  • Books (you can borrow books on your reading lists from the library, but you may buy your own)
  • Optional field trips
  • Study abroad (incl. travel costs, accommodation, visas, immunisation)
  • Placement costs (incl. travel costs and accommodation)
  • Student visas (international students)
  • Laptop (you’ll have access to laptops and computers on campus, but you may want your own)
  • Printing and photocopying
  • Professional-body membership
  • Graduation (gown hire and photography)

Remember, you’ll still need to take into account your living costs. This could include accommodation, travel, food and more.

How do I pay for it?

How much is it?

Additional costs you may have to pay

Your tuition fees will cover most costs associated with your programme. There are some extra costs that you might have to pay, or choose to pay, depending on your programme of study and the decisions you make:

  • Books (you can borrow books on your reading lists from the library, but you may buy your own)
  • Optional field trips
  • Study abroad (incl. travel costs, accommodation, visas, immunisation)
  • Placement costs (incl. travel costs and accommodation)
  • Student visas (international students)
  • Laptop (you’ll have access to laptops and computers on campus, but you may want your own)
  • Printing and photocopying
  • Professional-body membership
  • Graduation (gown hire and photography)

Remember, you’ll still need to take into account your living costs. This could include accommodation, travel, food and more.

How do I pay for it?

Our academics

Study under experts who’ve worked on BAFTA-winning games and titles for Disney and Lucasfilm, alongside innovative authors and writers of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, fantasy and science fiction.

You’ll be taught be enthusiastic, expert staff who are gamers and storytellers as much as they are academics. Our lecturers have a diverse range of experience, from digital media and games design, to publishing and social media.

Stuart Lilford
Featured academic

Stuart Lilford

Stuart began his career in the games industry before moving into teaching. He worked on three BAFTA-winning games and at prestigious companies such as Rare and Codemasters. He develops games independently, including the award-winning Time Stone.
Edmund Hurst
Featured academic

Dr Edmund Hurst

A novelist and published author, Dr. Edmund Hurst’s focus is on Genre Fiction. Interested in Fantasy and Science Fiction, he achieved his PhD for the thesis: 'Dawnsmoke and the Influence of Character Tropes on the Construction of Fantasy Fiction.'

Take a look at our facilities

Virtual Reality Lounge

Our fully immersive virtual reality lounge with Virtuix Omni VR treadmill means you can walk inside the virtual worlds you create.

Media Hub

Create graphics, illustrations, 2D and 3D characters and worlds, animations, games and videos in our media labs which include fully fitted design labs and studios with industry-standard hardware.

Latest Digital Media Software

Create graphics, illustrations, 2D and 3D characters and worlds, animations, games and videos in our media labs which include fully fitted design labs and studios with industry-standard hardware.

Brynmor Jones Library

Our 7-storey library is home to 1 million+ books, extensive digital resources drawn from libraries and archives across the world, and stunning panoramic views of the city from the 7th floor.

See more in our virtual tour
VR studio in the Media Hub
FACE Media Hub - Mac Lab - 0031_nh
Game, Graphic, Media & Film - Game Design

Look around

VR studio in the Media Hub
FACE Media Hub - Mac Lab - 0031_nh
Game, Graphic, Media & Film - Game Design
Brynmor Jones Library Observation Deck
Showcase

Future prospects

You’ll graduate ready for a range of exciting careers in the games industry and creative sector.

You’ll develop the essential skills that are needed in the rapidly growing game sector, as well as a professional-standard portfolio of both games and written work to showcase your unique abilities and key career prospects.

With transferrable skills such as communication, problem solving and collaboration, you’ll have the essential attributes graduates need to get into the creative industries. You’ll develop analytic and creative thinking, alongside resilience, motivation and curiosity – all skills prized by employers across the globe.

Our students have gone on to successful careers in games design, creative writing and multimedia production with roles including game designer, 2D or 3D artist, VFX artist, scriptwriter, publishing assistant, publicity and marketing.

The ability to showcase a creative mind through writing is a rare skill. Being able to tailor your messaging for different audiences will also give you a powerful advantage. Especially if you combine your professional portfolio with job-ready skills gained from work experience.

University of Hull Open Day

Your next steps

Like what you’ve seen? Then it’s time to apply.

The standard way to apply for this course is through UCAS. This will give you the chance to showcase your skill, qualities and passion for the subject, as well as providing your academic qualifications.

How to apply

Not ready to apply?

Visit our next Open Day, and see all that Hull has to offer for yourself. Talk to our lecturers about your subject, find out what university is really like from our current students, and take a tour of our beautiful campus and amazing facilities.

Book your place now

You may also be interested in…

Course

BA (Hons) Game Design
Course

BSc (Hons) / MEng Computer Science for Games Programming
Course

BA (Hons) Creative Writing and English
Course

BA (Hons) Creative Writing and Film Studies

3. 90% employability (Screen) UK domicile full-time first degree leavers; Higher Education Graduate Outcomes statistics, for the academic year 2021/22, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency June 2024.

2. Creative Writing is ranked in 1st place for Student Satisfaction (out of 50 institutions.) Complete University Guide 2025

All modules presented on this course page are subject to availability and this list may change at any time.

Top