GAME DESIGN WITH UNREAL ENGINE 5

Kick things off by seeing what you’ll build and how the course runs. Meet your instructor, your cohort, swap favorite game moments, and start thinking like a game designer from day one.

• Instructor intro
• Course structure
• Assignments & final project 
• Housekeeping rules
• Workshop: Discussing favourite games

Get a clear picture of what game designers do — from systems to levels to narrative — and where you fit in. Learn how ideas turn into playable features through prototyping, playtesting, and iteration, while navigating real studio structures from indie teams to AAA.

• Game design types
• Game designer’s role & responsibilities
• Team & organizational hierarchy
• Feature briefs & presentations
• Case Study: Game design pipelines 

Learn how to turn a rough idea into a game people want to play and a pitch studios can say yes to. You’ll define your concept, sharpen its positioning, and package it into a clear one-pager that sells the vision, not just the vibe.

• Pitch parameters & limits
• Using analytics & instincts
• Core game pillars & positioning
• References & design models
• Workshop: Creating a one-pager brief
• Visual mockups, gameplay boards, storyboard art

Assignment #1 (Optional): Visual & Concept
Prepare visual or concept materials for a one-pager brief.

Learn how to design gameplay that makes players feel something. You’ll connect mechanics, difficulty, and progression to player psychology, learning how to guide emotions and reactions.

• Player psychology & character
• Enemy behaviors & environmental interactions
• Controls, input system, UI, rewards, goals, progression
• Encouraging vs. discouraging continued play
• Tuning & balancing gameplay challenge
• Workshop: Brainstorming gameplay elements & mechanics

Design NPCs that make players think, react, and adapt. Build smarter enemy archetypes, align them with player skill challenges, and bring them to life with feedback, behaviors, and systems that make gameplay feel alive.

• What is AI in games?
• Creating enemy archetypes: Types, classes, actions 
• Different types of AI design: Human vs. creature
• Feedbacking enemy behaviors 
• Designing companion AI systems: Navigation, abilities, bark systems
• Case Study: Guardians of the Galaxy 

Assignment #2: Designing Archetypes
Based on a given game scenario, design enemy archetypes and demonstrate how they provide distinct challenges to the player.

Learn how to plan and build game spaces. You’ll map paths, place encounters, and create layouts that give players choice, challenge, and multiple ways to solve each encounter, all while thinking like a designer.

• References & mood 
• 2D & 3D sketching: Photoshop & Sketchup
• Player goals, pathing, encounters, environment interactions
• Workshop: 2D sketching of an encounter/mission location
• Blockout & collaboration with environment art
• Modular level design: Evaluating composition & layout

Assignment #3: 3D Blockout
Construct an interior or exterior layout for a game with indications of enemy placement and player ingredients that supports multiple gameplay styles for completing an objective.

By the end of this class, you’ll be able to plan, scope, and prototype key gameplay mechanics in Unreal Engine 5, from player movement to abilities, while using data tables to bring your ideas to life — all with a clear view of what’s core, what’s extra, and how to pitch it across teams.

• Player movement, controls, attacks
• Creating feature set lists
• Core & generic elements
• Case Studies: Prototype processes & pitches 
• Workshop: Planning the core elements to prototype 
• Collaborating with other departments 

Assignment #4: Paper Design Brief
Prepare the paper design brief and list of features to prototype for a specific game. Describe the environment where the prototype will be staged and why this location is selected.

Join a technical class with a guest speaker who will show you some of the best tips for working in Unreal Engine. Dig deeper into navigation systems, enemy attacks integration, interactive environments, and more.

• Setting up a new behavior archetype class 
• Implementing A.I. navigation systems
• Enemy detection & sensory 
• Integrating basic enemy attacks
• Gameplay objects & interactive environment

Get hands-on with visual scripting — from dynamic enemies to interactive objectives — and learn how to gather, analyze, and act on playtest feedback so your designs can improve. You’ll leave knowing how to set up game logic and iterate with real player data.

• Blueprint scripting fundamentals 
• Playtesting & iteration fundamentals 
• Playtest analysis & next steps
• Workshop: Reviewing playtest data & proposing design adjustments

Explore how AI and human creativity team up in game design, from procedural levels and machine-learning NPCs to difficulty curves and modular encounters. Learn to spot where AI accelerates workflow, and where human design instincts still make the game memorable.

• Procedural generation, randomized layouts, encounters
• Non-linear player progression & difficulty curves
• Case Study: Modular encounter designs
• QA analysis: Quantitative data & bugs
• AI for visual mockups 
• Machine learning NPC’s

Assignment #5: Playable Prototype
Complete your playable prototype in Unreal Engine.

Design worlds that feel lived-in and full of story. You’ll turn high-level concepts into 2D maps, segment districts, define key locations, and build a “world bible” that guides gameplay and narrative — keeping immersion and player choice front and center.

• References, geography, structure, themes, key locations
• Workshop: Researching a city & identifying key locations 
• Building a 2D world map with districts & sectors: LucidChart
• World map for Blueprint building
• World bible & modular open world activity design
• Safe zones & settlements 

Digging deeper into building open worlds. Learn to sync AI factions, environmental storytelling, and player choices so every corner of your game reacts to the story, making player agency and narrative themes click naturally.

• Grounding game mechanics with narrative intentions
• Contextualizing the game experience 
• Collaborating with writers: Lore, activities, encounters 
• Narrative congruency vs. disconnect 
• World AI systems, actions, player agency 
• Case Study: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Assignment #6 (Optional): Open World Loop
Design an Open World Loop that connects activities and influences player progression and world state. Describe the setting of the world, key locations, and what the player’s overall goal is.

Design multiplayer worlds that work. Explore co-op, PvE, and PvP systems, balance player motivations, and tackle real-world level design challenges, so your online experiences are engaging, fair, and fun.

• Online play & player motivations: PvP vs. Co-op
• Designing a cooperative experience for a single player game
• Co-op mechanics, PvP player matchups & design challenges
• Case Study: Atlas Fallen - The Coop Strike Team
• Level design needs for a multiplayer game
• Guest Speaker: Building a multiplayer level design map

Pitch your gameplay prototype, get real feedback, see what works and what doesn’t in practice. Learn from peers, refine your ideas, and walk away with a clearer sense of how to turn a concept into a playable experience.

• Workshop: Prototype presentation & peer feedback
• Class presentation

Step into a studio with confidence: define your design focus, build a portfolio that gets noticed, and tackle interviews like a pro while learning the networking moves and extra skills that give you an edge in the game industry.

• Determining your design specialty
• Building a portfolio 
• Networking do’s & don’ts
• Preparing for job interviews
• Additional skills for a competitive advantage