Based in the heart of the UK's only island city, the University of Portsmouth is committed to giving every student a life-changing experience. Outstanding teaching and wide-ranging support make for a lively community where students develop skills and confidence for a rewarding career. Portsmouth is the only UK university that offers flexible sandwich placements for our undergraduates and we call these Connected Degrees. This is a 3 year course with a 4th year paid placement and courses offer the freedom to choose when you take your placement: either before or after your final year.
The opportunity is available to students joining us from September 2024 and is a new way to connect your degree to your future.
BA (Hons) Computer Games Design (PH) at University of Portsmouth
In an ever-evolving and ever-expanding gaming industry, studying BA (Hons) Computer Games Design (PH) at the University of Portsmouth will equip you with the skills and knowledge to understand the range of technologies and tastes within gaming today.
The course emphasises the psychology of play and players to tailor games to different tastes. The theory of game design, development and player psychology are brought together in a unified approach. You will be taught by academics who have worked as game developers in the industry and still develop games, as well as conduct leading research in the field across a diverse range of topics within Computer Games Design. This research is reflected in the classroom, and you will be developing games based on your own observations and research that will allow you to create playable games to be tested, and potentially commercialised and sold.
The course’s foundation in multiple theoretical approaches informs many successful games outputs from the department, alongside the industry-standard facilities you will have at your disposal. These include a motion capture suite, Virtual Reality suite and PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch Development Kits for developing and testing new games.
Dr Peter Howell
Peter Howell is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Games Design in the School of Creative Technologies at the University of Portsmouth, and the Course Leader for BA (Hons) Computer Games Design (PH). Peter has over 10 years experience teaching game design and development in Further and Higher Education, focusing primarily on game systems design, player experience design, 3D asset creation, level design and scripting, and academic games research. Peter has previously worked as a Game Designer for The Chinese Room and now leads the Advanced Games Research Group at the University of Portsmouth. Peter’s research focuses on the psychology of games and play and particularly on the effects of subverting player expectations. More broadly, Peter is interested in the application of psychological theory to the practices of game design, game play, and games education.
