Entry requirements

Academic requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university.

Language requirements

Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6. This requirement can be met either by achieving the required score on an internationally recognised test, or by previous upper secondary or university studies in some countries. Detailed instructions on how to provide evidence of your English proficiency are available at universityadmissions.se.

Aims

The aim of the one-year Master Programme in Transformative Game Design is for the students to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to utilize role-playing games as vehicles for personal and social change. These skills include design, play, implementation, and critique as well as writing for academic and professional audiences. This programme is intended for students interested in facilitating role-playing games with transformational goals in leisure, education, and therapeutic settings.

Learning outcomes

For a master degree students must:

Knowledge and Understanding

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the interdisciplinary theories and concepts related to transformative game design, including an overview of the field, deeper knowledge in specific parts such as theories related to processes of change, and insight into relevant research and analog role-playing game design practice
• Demonstrate advanced knowledge of scientific methods applied to the study of role-playing game design and implementation, e.g. research through design, psychometric surveys, or participant-observation ethnography

Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge of transformative game design, and analyze, evaluate and handle research questions on complex phenomena and situations with a limited amount of information.
• Demonstrate the ability to independently identify and formulate research questions, as well as to plan and implement qualified assignments  with relevant methods within given time frames, including game design, playtesting, implementation, gathering feedback, and analysis.
• Demonstrate the ability to clearly explain and discuss, orally and in writing, their conclusions, as well as the knowledge and arguments that these are based upon, in dialogue with different groups. 
• Demonstrate such skills as are needed to participate in research and development work to design and implement analogue role-playing games for applied purposes.

Evaluation and Assessment

• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and assess according to relevant scientific, societal, and ethical aspects within the area of Game Design, as well as show awareness of these aspects within transformative game research and development.
• Show insight into the possibilities and limitations of science, its role in society, and our shared responsibility for its usage.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify their own needs for more knowledge and the ability to take responsibility for their own educational progress. 

Layout of the programme

The programme comprises two years of half-time study (60 credits). All courses are compulsory. The first year contains courses which include relevant theories, methods, and scientific writing in preparation for the degree project in the second year. The programme begins with an introductory course to designing and researching transformative analog role-playing games. The subsequent courses build upon this introductory material with increasingly complex considerations around design, implementation, play, and community building with an emphasis on social justice. The second year expands upon this foundation with deep game design practices involving symbolism and ritual, as well as advanced research methods. The second year ends with a degree project for 15 credits.

Please see the Study Plan for more details about the programme courses.

Instruction

The Master programme is given in English. The types of instruction and examination formats vary from course to course depending on the content and organisation of the course. The instruction normally consists of lectures, seminars, and workshops with oral and written assignments to be done individually or in groups. Students demonstrate their knowledge and skills through various examination formats: oral presentations at seminars, written reports and examinations.

Students are expected to increasingly take responsibility for their learning as the programme progresses. The degree project should reflect the student's ability to think critically and to formulate and solve a problem independently and creatively on the basis of the knowledge and skills gained in the courses in the programme.

Degree

The programme leads to a Master of Arts in Game Design, 60 credits.

To receive the degree students must complete an independent degree project for at least 15 credits in the main field of study.