Master of Engineering in Game Design, Development, and Innovation

Program Code: E-EGR-GAME
Degree Designation: Master of Engineering
Department: Institute for Enterprise Engineering
Website: masters.pratt.duke.edu/gddi

Program Summary

Students in the Game Design, Development & Innovation (GDDI) MEng program develop strong technical the skills game industry leaders are looking for, such as proficiency in programming—including C# and C++—and how to apply these skills to the leading game engines. Students also learn design principles for gameplay, art, user experience and storytelling.

Our program seeks to use game design and development beyond entertainment. In addition to working on entertainment games, students also apply game development and game design in innovative ways to other applications such as education, medicine, and training simulations. 

The program replicates a game studio environment where students work on a robust game project over two years - from ideation to publishing. Students must work as part of a team with other students to jointly develop these game(s) during the course of the Program and must sign the Student Game Agreement at the time the team is formed. 

Curriculum Overview

The Game Design, Development & Innovation MEng’s core curriculum is centered around the start-to-end publishing of a game in small groups over two years. As conveyed in the offer of admission, students must sign the Student Game Agreement at the time their teams are formed. 

Students focus on their core programming and game development courses in the first year of the program. If a student demonstrates exceptional mastery of the curriculum’s core content during their first fall term, they may be allowed to take an additional elective during their first spring term at the program director’s discretion. 

In the second fall term of the program, students are encouraged to take optional electives in addition to their two required electives. In the final spring term, students will go through the final steps to publish their game(s) in GAMEDSGN 589: Game Development Capstone. 

Due to the unique nature and pacing of this program and its core game project, the two-year track cannot be significantly accelerated or altered.

Admissions Policies & Practices

The Duke Game Design, Development & Innovation MEng program is designed to be accessible to participants from a variety of engineering and science backgrounds. Applicants should have: 

• An undergraduate degree in science or engineering (or equivalent technical work experience if your degree is in a non-technical field), and 

• A minimum of one (1) semester of programming (any language), and 

• Sufficient DUOLINGO, IELTS, or TOEFL English Language Testing scores (official result required; international students only) 

Prior coursework in probability and statistics and linear algebra is highly encouraged, but not required for admission. 

GDDI Professionalism Community Standard 

The GDDI program’s top priority is to graduate well-rounded, mature working professionals. This includes building strong technical skills, but it also includes how students show up as a professional, both on campus and in the workforce.

Our view of professionalism emphasizes: 

• Treating others with respect. 

• Fostering inclusion and belonging in the GDDI community, the Duke community, and the wider community. 

• Communicating and collaborating openly and authentically with others. 

• Contributing with good effort and good faith to team endeavors. 

• Being punctual and attending all class meetings, team meetings, Orientation programming, etc. 

• Following Pratt’s current academic integrity policies and the Duke Community Standard.

Start and end dates for classes, as well as the dates for Orientation programming, are defined in the Pratt Academic Calendar. Please refer to individual course syllabi for more specific information regarding individual professors’ attendance policies.

Academic Requirements

• Pre-Program Bootcamp (optional)

  • GAMEDSGN 503

• Game Design Core Courses (6 courses)

  • GAMEDSGN 510

  • GAMEDSGN 511

  • GAMEDSGN 520

  • GAMEDSGN 521

  • GAMEDSGN 530

  • GAMEDSGN 589

• Business Core Courses (2 courses)

  • MENG 540

  • MENG 570

• Internship/Project and Assessment (2 courses)

  • MENG 550

  • MENG 551

• Career Strategy and Design Course (1 course)

  • EGR 590

• Technical Electives (6 credits)

  • A comprehensive list of elective courses is available to students on the program webpage and the Stellic degree audit site.

Recommended Course Progression

Students are strongly encouraged to take as many GAMEDSGN electives as possible during the fall term of their second year:

• First Fall Term:

  • GAMEDSGN 510  Programming for Game Development (3 credits)

  • GAMEDSGN 520  Fundamentals of Game Development (3 credits)

  • GAMEDSGN 530  Critical Analysis of Video Games (3 credits)

  • EGR 590  Career Strategy and Design (1 non-tuition-bearing credits)

• First Spring Term:

  • GAMEDSGN 511  Software Engineering & Systems for Game Development (3 credits)

  • GAMEDSGN 521  Advanced Game Development (3 credits)

  • MENG 540  Management of High Tech Industries (3 credits)

• First Summer Term:

  • MENG 550  Master of Engineering Internship/Project (0 credits)

  • MENG 551  Master of Engineering Internship/Project Assessment (0 credits)

• Second Fall Term:

  • MENG 570  Business Fundamentals for Engineers (3 credits)

  • Technical Elective 1 (3 credits)

  • Technical Elective 2 (3 credits)

  • OPTIONAL: Technical Elective 3 (3 credits)

  • OPTIONAL: Technical Elective 4 (3 credits)

• Second Spring Term:

  • GAMEDSGN 589  Game Development Capstone (3 credits)

  • OPTIONAL: EGR 591  Career Strategy and Design II (1 non-tuition-bearing credits)