Indie Game Development MA (Online)

Become a confident and daring indie game developer, producing vibrant and engaging experiences for gamers.
Course duration | 2 years |
---|---|
Attendance | Part-time |
Request information
Get a prospectus
Start dates: January / May / September
(Three intakes per year)
Course overview
Analyse the principles of the creative process, from ideation and design through to delivery and dissemination. Integrate design tools, programming languages, game engines, as well as specialist middleware and frameworks into your game development practice.
Explore business models used by indie games studios to see how you could start up your own. And, if you already have a business idea, get it off the ground with help from a mentor.
You will:
- Apply the principles of design and creativity to generate fun and playful experiences
- Learn to use industry-standard platforms for making games and adapt to their technical constraints
- Use methods from business and analytics to better understand how people engage with games and game companies
- Adopt both technical and arts perspectives as part of a design thinking process to deliver novel games
- Collaborate across disciplinary boundaries, an increasingly important skill in the games industry
- Practice digital and non-digital game design across a range of application domains, including gamification and serious games
- Keep and control the Intellectual Property (IP) of any games you produce

Join our course Q&A on 20 July
Find out moreCourse details
Throughout this game development course, you'll learn how to produce original and creatively distinguished games based on your own intellectual property. You'll gain the ability to critically reflect upon and evaluate working methods and find the most effective ways to collaborate on projects. You'll also gain key professional skills in pitching your ideas; communicating concepts and presenting artefacts visually with clarity and enthusiasm.
Modules
This course is comprised of five modules, four 30-credit modules and one 60-credit project (180 credits in total). The modules have been specifically designed to be studied in a non-linear order, with the order in which you’ll study the modules depending on when you begin the course. All modules on the course are compulsory and must be passed in order to complete the award.
MA
You will need to complete four 30-credit modules and one 60-credit project (180 credits in total). All modules on the course are compulsory and must be passed in order to complete the award.
From module information to course aims and assessment criteria, discover the full course details for the MA.
PGDip
You will need to complete four 30-credit modules (120 credits in total). All modules on the course are compulsory and must be passed in order to complete the award. A dissertation (major project) is not required.
From module information to course aims and assessment criteria, discover the full course details for the PGDip.
Module details
By devising a series of small-scale creative artefacts, you'll use your existing ideas about development practice and then experiment with new approaches to challenge these ideas. This will enable you to create a personal case study, from which you can define how to expand and enrich your practice. Beyond the personal case study, you'll gain a broader sense of the contexts in which these practices are applied across disciplines.
(30 credits)
You’ll develop and combine skills from the art, design and programming disciplines to create your own small indie game. This will help you understand how game development draws from many different disciplines and explain the different tasks involved in making games. By the end of the module you'll have made a game yourself and produced a report that explains the cross-disciplinary context for your creative process.
(30 credits)
You'll work in a team on a problem-led creative project. This will typically, but not necessarily, be a small game or creative app. You will work together to situate, design, implement and evaluate your creative artefact. With the support of a supervisor, you'll strategically manage scope, workflow, communication roles and responsibilities. At the end, you will have produced an original artefact, based on your own intellectual property, that clearly illustrates how you can engage an audience.
(30 credits)
In this module, you’ll design and prepare to launch a small business with a focus on indie game development. You’ll investigate and assess market opportunities in an area of your choice. This could involve exploring your audience, comparing how game businesses operate, contrasting business models, and considering how intellectual property can be managed. You’ll then decide which business opportunity your indie game is responding to and devise a business plan. You’ll consider branding, cash flow modelling, enterprise planning, incorporation, seeking further investment and interrogating routes to market. This will underpin further development and launch of your indie game.
(30 credits)
You’ll work on a major research and development project, either independently or with others. This will allow you to expand and consolidate your skills of devising, developing and executing an extended development project. You can build upon your projects from other modules or develop a new concept. You should finish the course with a polished project of a publishable quality. A supervisor will act as your mentor and adviser. If you’re planning to start your own business following this MA, your supervisor can direct you to professional services staff for business mentoring.
(60 credits)
The modules above are those being studied by our students, or proposed new ones. Programme structures and modules can change as part of our curriculum enhancement and review processes. If a certain module is important to you, please discuss it with the Course Leader.
Studying Indie Game Development online means you'll be part of the renowned Games Academy, which was ranked in the top 30 games schools worldwide by the Princeton Review.

Student shortlisted at Swiss Game Awards
Patricio Land was nominated at the 2021 Swiss Game Development Awards for his point and click graphic adventure Sol 705.
The game is Patricio's tribute to the golden age of gaming - the '90s - where point and click titles ruled the day.
Read moreHow you'll learn
You'll learn through a blend of lectures, webinars, guest talks, tasks and discussion forums, which you'll access via our dedicated virtual learning environment. This is also where you'll find all key documentation, get course announcements and access extensive learning resources.
You'll be supported academically by Online Tutors, who will also deliver weekly webinars and facilitate the online forums. If you need assistance with anything that isn't directly related to course material, a dedicated Student Advisor team will be on hand to help. You'll also have access to Falmouth University's excellent employability service, RealWORKs.
You'll refine dynamic development practices, spending 20-25 hours a week working on your craft. We incorporate optional face-to-face events for all our online students. There will be up to two per year and will typically run over weekends, to fit around your other commitments.
Study hours
A postgraduate student should dedicate at least 20-25 hours per week for study.
Assessment methods
Assessment provides the course team with a means of offering tailored guidance alongside advice on how to progress knowledge and skills in key areas that relate to the course Learning Outcomes. The course team will identify your strengths and weaknesses as an individual and discuss them with you throughout your time on the course.
Assessments are 100% coursework, submitted in an electronic format to the virtual learning environment, and designed to reflect professional practice. Assessment methods include:
- Projects
- Portfolios
- Pitches
- Papers
Check out the stories below to discover more about our incredible community.

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Student secures internship with gaming giant Roblox
19 April 2022
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Games Academy ranked alongside the best in the world
29 March 2022
Falmouth University’s Games Academy has once again secured a place on the Princeton Review’s lis...

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Students level up at the Global Game Jam 2022
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Indie Game Development lecturer scores prestigious funding for indie game company
11 January 2022
MA Indie Game Development (online) Senior Lecturer Iain Lobb has been awarded funding by t...

Widening participation in Esports: in conversation with Elise Dennis
08 December 2021
Elise Dennis is a final year Game Development student and a professional esports player. Here, she d...

5 ways to market your indie game
03 December 2021
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Indie Game Development student shortlisted at national game awards
18 November 2021
MA Indie Game Development online student Patricio Land was nominated in the Best Entertainment Game ...

Games Academy on a hot streak as student team wins funding from Tranzfuser for third year running
05 November 2021
Falmouth student gaming team Meteorite Media have received development funding from industry leading...

Falmouth is one of the world’s best universities for Creative Media and Entertainment
12 October 2021
The Rookies ranks Falmouth as one of the top universities for creative media & entertainment, ga...

Student work celebrated at Falmouth Games Expo
30 June 2021
The Games Academy has brought the curtain down on a productive academic year with their annual celeb...

Falmouth’s Games Academy moves up the global top 50 table
26 March 2021
The Games Academy has moved up the list of the best places in the world to study games design. At nu...

Rustbreaker brings more Games Academy success
16 February 2021
Game Design MA students Max, Christopher and Jake – aka Game Developing team Knights of Borria –...

Games Academy student spots gap in the market
15 February 2021
Third year Game Development student Richard has launched an innovative new game on Steam: Stream Que...

Falmouth University Provost releases ‘Serious Games’ book
27 November 2020
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Staff
The Indie Game Development course is part of Falmouth’s Games Academy, one of the largest dedicated game development studio spaces of any UK university. You'll learn from industry experts with years of experience across disciplines, bringing together art, animation, audio, design, programming, production and writing. Some members of staff only teach on specific modules.

Dr Jamie White
Course Coordinator, UX Design and Indie Game Development
As Course Leader for the Games Academy's online master's courses, my responsibilities involve managi...
Facilities
- Dedicated easy-to-use virtual learning environment (VLE)
- Study alongside students from around the world
- Accessible online audio / visual content
- Optional face-to-face events*
- Invitation to attend alumni events
- 24/7 access to Falmouth's extensive online library of contextual books, journals and resources
- Access to online software tutorials at LinkedIn Learning
- Students' Union community
- A Student Advisor to support you throughout your studies and access to our Student Support Services
- Access to our Careers and employability service RealWORKS
*Please bear in mind that the Covid-19 pandemic may impact these events. You can view the latest information here.

Careers
- Game developers at companies such as MediaTonic, Firesprite, Creative Assembly, Project Gamechanger and Rare
- Creative AI specialists at companies including Ultrahaptics, Solutionpath and Bewsign
- Researchers and developers at companies such as Facebook
- Further study at doctoral-level in artificial intelligence and/or data science, sponsored by the likes of Google
Our graduates have a track record of producing successful indie games. Published titles include: Get Packed by Moonshine Studio, Soria by Polargryph, SAI by Studio Mutiny, RoBoats by Animal Puree, Kick Your Astronaut by SquirrelSoft and Karate Krab by Liquid Sapling. Visit Our Games page to find a selection of real games that Falmouth students have collaborated on.
How to apply
Get in touch
To find out more about this course, how you'll learn and what funding is available, get in touch with our Course Advisors. Click below to submit a form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Request information
Apply now
Ready to apply for postgraduate study? You can apply for the next intake of MA Indie Game Development (Online) below. To join us in January 2023, click here for MA and here for PGDip.

Early Bird discount available
Request informationAn honours degree or Level 6 equivalent qualification is desirable. However, candidates without a degree or formal qualification are still encouraged to apply. If you'd like to discuss our entry requirements, speak to an advisor.
For more information regarding equivalent international qualifications and Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) either request information with our easy online form, or read about it on our apply page.
If English isn't your first language, you'll need to demonstrate English language skills that are sufficiently developed for successful completion of your studies. We accept a range of recognised English language qualifications that are equivalent to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic minimum score of 6.5 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.
This course has three intakes per year: January, May and September.
Academic start date* | Application deadline |
---|---|
19 September 2022 | 30 August 2022 |
23 January 2023 | 5 January 2023 |
29 May 2023 | 8 May 2023 |
Please note:
*Virtual Welcome Week begins the week before the academic start date. During this time, our Student Advisor team will host Welcome Webinars and be in touch with practical information on how to study online.
An Early Bird discount is available for early applications. The scheme offers a £300 MA / £150 PGDip tuition fee reduction if you apply by the Early Bird discount submission deadline:
Early Bird discount submission deadline* | Academic start date |
---|---|
25 July 2022 | 19 September 2022 |
28 November 2022 | 23 January 2023 |
3 April 2023 | 29 May 2023 |
*If you receive an offer and within two weeks you accept the place and pay the acceptance fee, you will then qualify for a further £300 off your MA tuition fees (£150 off PGDip fees). Both these payments would be applied to your final fee instalment.
To discuss all our discount opportunities, contact an advisor.
Fees, costs & funding
Tuition fees
£11,300 total fee (incl. acceptance fee) - 2 years part time - MA/MSc course
£7,600 total fee (incl. acceptance fee) - PGDip course
£11,795 total fee (incl. acceptance fee) - 2 years part time - MA/MSc course
£7,865 total fee (incl. acceptance fee) - PGDip course
Tuition fees are set annually and are subject to review each year. The University may therefore raise tuition fees in the second or subsequent years of a course, in line with inflation and/or the maximum permitted by law or Government policy. Students will be notified of any changes as soon as possible.
Early Bird discount
An Early Bird discount is available for early applications. The scheme offers a £300 MA / £150 PGDip tuition fee reduction if you apply by the relevant deadline.
For information on fees, get in touch using our online form.
Find out more about our Graduate Loyalty Discount for Falmouth alumni, which offers a reduction in course tuition fees.
Typical course costs
As part of studying Indie Game Development you will require:
Laptop/computer
A desktop/laptop at an expense of around £1,300, capable of running game engines (such as Unity and Unreal Engine), and 3D modelling software (Blender and Autodesk Maya, for example), as well as our virtual learning environment.
Optional face-to-face events
You will be expected to cover your own travel, accommodation and subsistence costs to attend these events.
Online study funding
There are loans, awards and alternative funding sources for postgraduate studies. Read about them on our online study funding page.
Find out about funding
Ask a student
What better way to find out about life at Falmouth University than by asking our current students?
From course details, to our online community and managing your study time around work commitments, our students are ready and available to answer any questions you might have. Simply set up your account, send them a question and they'll get back to you within 24 hours.
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Request information
You can submit our simple online form and a Course Advisor will get in touch with you. They'll be able to answers questions about how you'll study, what to expect from the course, and the next step to take on your application journey.
Get in touch