Fine Arts: Game Arts, BFA
About
Check out our inaugural student showcase:
Playing at the Future
Games are an increasingly popular and impactful form of fine art, commercial entertainment, and cultural expression. Game Arts students at CCA venture into both the theory and practice of these possibilities, taking coursework in game arts, design, development, programming, animation, and production, to build a strong foundation of game making today and into the future.
A Unique Games Program
CCA’s BFA in Game Arts, launched in Fall 2021, explores the full potential of game work—analog, digital, video, experimental, installation, social practice games, and whatever new game forms come next. This unique, future-oriented, fine arts-focused program is designed for students who want to make the next new media game and develop an artistic practice that will constantly evolve through creativity and curiosity. Game Arts students, in other words, learn more than just how to be a game industry professional. They learn how to be artistic leaders shaping the future of games and play.
Study at the World's Center of Games and Play
Located in San Francisco, a world center of games and play, CCA's BFA in Game Arts affords students unique internship and postgraduate opportunities in one of entertainment's fastest growing industries.
Student Work
Your journey in Game Arts
Student Experiences
To learn of the kinds of experiences students in Game Arts can expect visit Game Arts: Student Experiences.
Game Arts Coursework
To learn about the Game Arts BFA's curriculum and courses, visit Game Arts: Curriculum and Courses and also check out the Game Arts curriculum chart for more details of degree requirements.
Other resources for students
CCA Libraries Games Collection
In conjunction with the Animation Department, CCA libraries have built a collection of board games, available for checkout or use in Meyer Library.
CCA's Events Calendar
Browse CCA's robust calendar of events, including virtual exhibitions and lectures from artists, faculty, and even fellow students. Find inspiration for your own work, become part of a wider network of artists, or just see/learn something new!
Undergraduate Advising
If you need help strategizing a path to complete your Game Arts coursework, use some of Advising's academic planning tools or make an appointment with your advisor.
Student Records Office
In order to declare or change your major to Game Arts, you'll need to submit a form with the Student Records Office. They can also help with registration issues, applying for program completion, and more related to your information and status as a student.
Workday Student Academic Planning and Registration Tools
Workday is CCA's academic system of record. Students can browse a comprehensive and up-to-date catalog of course offerings, draft schedules for registration, register for classes, and manage enrollments throughout the year here.
Game Arts in the News
Related programs
Game Arts' wide-ranging curriculum intersects with several other CCA programs of study. Augment your learning by better understanding and utilizing related programs and the resources that they offer.
Image Credits
Top: Demo reel of student work compiled by 4D Studio Operations Manager, Jessica Vazquez; all student work credited in the reel.
Bottom-right: Gaming and Play course group project by students Santrupti Satpathy, Jane Chen, and Alice Wang.
Like what you see?
You can also view more student work here.
Program faculty and staff
Zachary Walter
Chair, Game Arts Program
Assistant Professor Non-Tenure, Fine Arts Division