Indie Game Development MA (Online)

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)

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

• 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.

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

Apply for MA

Apply for PGDip

You can apply to begin your studies in January 2026 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.