Indie Game Development

Indie Game Development MA (Online)

Become a confident and daring indie game developer.

Key details
Location
Online
Course duration
2 years
Attendance
Part-time

Course overview

Learn to produce vibrant and engaging experiences for gamers on this dynamic online MA course. You’ll analyse the principles of the creative process, from early ideation and prototyping through to full production, release and post-release content.

Supported by an experienced cross-disciplinary team of industry practitioners, including tutors working in professional game development roles, you’ll learn to integrate design tools, programming languages, game engines, specialist middleware and frameworks into your game development practice.

You’ll explore current trends in indie games, funding opportunities and studio business models to see how you could start up your own. If you already have a business or game idea, this is your chance to get it off the ground by preparing pitch materials with help from tutors with a wealth of experience.

This Indie Game Development master's course is delivered by Falmouth's Games Academy, which has been rated no.1 for game design in England by The Princeton Review, 2023.

Why study this course at Falmouth?

  • Apply the principles of design and creativity to generate novel experiences and own the Intellectual Property (IP) of any games you produce
  • Develop digital and non-digital prototypes and playable games, exploring the use of games across a range of application domains, including gamification and serious games – learning to use industry-standard platforms and adapting to their technical constraints
  • Use methods from business and analytics to better understand how people engage with indie games and games companies
  • Collaborate across disciplinary boundaries and expand your professional networks at optional in-person events

Register your interest

Apply now

Get a prospectus

Start dates: January / May / September

(Three intakes per year) 

Course details

1

FOR GAME DESIGN IN ENGLAND*

Throughout this indie 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 

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. 

MA Indie Game Development Online: Juan and Nick's Story

MA  

You will need to complete four 30-credit modules and one 60-credit Major 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), and will not complete a Major Project. 

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 multi-disciplinary team on a problem-led creative project. This will typically, but not necessarily, be a small game or creative app. You'll 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 pitched and 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)

As part of our process of continuous improvement, we routinely review course content to ensure that all our students benefit from a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be some changes made to your course which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Any students affected will be informed of any changes made directly.

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Resources and Support

  • Dedicated easy-to-use virtual learning environment (VLE)
  • Accessible online audio / visual content
  • A Student Advisor to support you throughout your studies and access to our Student Support Services
  • Access to our Employability Service
  • 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
  • Optional in-person events
  • Invitation to attend alumni events

Although online students don't have access to on-campus facilities as part of the course, you can hire equipment and access facilities by paying a charge. Find out more about availability and prices here.

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Is online study for me banner

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Online Learning Support

You'll have access to a range of support throughout your studies with us to help you thrive and deve...

Online Learning Support
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BA Creative Writing (Online) students meeting each other for the first time

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In-Person Events

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In-Person Events
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How you'll learn & be assessed

How online study works

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. 

How will I be supported?

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.

You'll refine dynamic development practices, spending around 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.

What are my study hours?

Based on the total learning time for the Postgraduate online courses, an average study week can be up to 25 hours. As our online courses are intended to be flexible, the time required to study will vary based on the level of study, the module week, and individual learning pace. 

Find out more about learning online

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
Headshot of MA Indie Game Development student Sarah Masters
MA Indie Game Development student Sarah Masters

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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.

Liz Coulter-Smith

Lecturer and Course Leader, User Experience Design and Indie Game Development

Liz Coulter-Smith, holds a MFA, BFA, PGCHE, PGCertResMeth, and FHEA credentials, is a researcher, de...

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Matt Osbond

Online tutor

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Sally Blake

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Alexander Horowitz

Online Tutor: MA Indie Game Development

Dr Alexander Horowitz is a game audio director and composer based in the South-East of England. He i...

Alexander Horowitz
Adam

Adam Clewes-Boyne

Online Tutor

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Adam Clewes-Boyne

Some members of staff only teach on specific modules, and your course might not feature every staff member who teaches on the course.

Careers

Our game development graduates have worked as: 

  • 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 
  • Designers, developers, programmers and analysts at companies such as Facebook 
  • Doctoral researchers 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

You can apply to begin your studies in January 2025 by selecting the relevant course route below:

Apply for MA

Apply for PGDip

You can apply to begin your studies in May 2025 by selecting the relevant course route below:

Apply for MA

Apply for PGDip
 

You can apply to begin your studies in September 2025 by selecting the relevant course route below:

Apply for MA

Apply for PGDip

An 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 is not your first language you will need to meet the same standard which is equivalent to the IELTS Academic 6.5 overall score, with at least 5.5 in Reading, Writing, and Listening, and a minimum of 6.0 in speaking.

We also accept a range of other recognised English language qualifications.  You can visit our English Language Requirements page for more information. 

For more information about equivalent international qualifications or English language requirements please contact our friendly Course Advisors

What we're looking for

We're looking for people who are interested in working with artists and designers, developers, and creatives in a distributed studio environment, testing and experimenting with cutting-edge technologies and game development techniques.  

You may be early in your career following completion of related undergraduate study or further along in your career but interested in re-training and learning new relevant technical skills or starting a business. 

This course has three intakes per year: January, May and September.

Academic start date* Application deadline
20 January 2025 8 January 2025
26 May 2025 6 May 2025
22 September 2025 1 September 2025

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. Currently the scheme offers up to £600 off MA tuition fees: £300 if you apply by the Early Bird discount submission deadline, and a further £300 off your tuition fees if you receive an offer and within two weeks you accept the place and pay the acceptance fee. Both these payments would be applied to your final fee instalment. Please note the discount amount is subject to change for future intakes.

Early Bird discount submission deadline Academic start date
25 November 2024 20 January 2025
31 March 2025 26 May 2025
4 August 2025 22 September 2025

To discuss all our discount opportunities, contact an advisor.

Speak to an advisor

Fees, costs & funding

Tuition fees

£12,150 total fee (incl. acceptance fee) - 2 years part time - MA/MSc course

£7,921 total fee (incl. acceptance fee) - PGDip course

£12,150 total fee (incl. acceptance fee) - 2 years part time - MA/MSc course

£7,921 total fee (incl. acceptance fee) - PGDip course

Tuition fees for September 2026 will be confirmed in summer 2025.

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. 

The figures above don't include accommodation and living costs

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. 

Ask a student

What better way to find out about life at Falmouth University than by asking our current students?

From course details and academic support, to the social scene and settling in, 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.

Speak to an advisor

Do you have questions about the course or studying online with Falmouth? Fill in our simple online form and we'll get in touch to support your application journey.

Submit form
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