Game design courses can help you learn level design, character development, storytelling techniques, and game mechanics. You can build skills in prototyping, user testing, and balancing gameplay to enhance player experience. Many courses introduce tools like Unity and Unreal Engine, that support creating interactive environments and implementing game logic. Additionally, you might explore programming languages such as C or C++ to bring your ideas to life, along with graphic design software for creating compelling visuals.

Michigan State University
Skills you'll gain: Game Design, Unity Engine, Prototyping, Video Game Development, 3D Modeling, Computer Graphics, Multimedia, Animations, Scripting
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
University of California San Diego
Skills you'll gain: Design Research, Interaction Design, User Experience Design, Statistical Analysis, Usability, Ideation, User Research, Graphic and Visual Design, User Interface (UI) Design, Experimentation, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Human Centered Design, Human Computer Interaction, A/B Testing, Human Factors, Collaborative Software, Telecommuting, R Programming, Storyboarding
Intermediate · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

Michigan State University
Skills you'll gain: Game Design, Software Design Documents, Prototyping, Video Game Development, Software Documentation, Animation and Game Design, Conceptual Design, Ideation, Usability Testing, Peer Review, Creativity
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

Microsoft
Skills you'll gain: Storyboarding, User Research, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Persona (User Experience), Design Research, Design Thinking, User Centered Design, Innovation, Creativity
Mixed · Course · 1 - 3 Months

University of Colorado System
Skills you'll gain: Video Game Development, Game Design, Unity Engine, Debugging, Unreal Engine, Animations, Programming Principles, Graphics Software, Scripting Languages, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), User Interface (UI), No-Code Development, Event-Driven Programming, Computational Logic, Data Structures, Computer Programming, Development Environment, Scripting
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

Skills you'll gain: Computer Graphics, Game Design, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), 3D Assets, Video Game Development, Animation and Game Design, C# (Programming Language), Animations, Cross Platform Development, Development Environment, Software Installation, User Interface (UI), Debugging, Program Development, Prototyping, Computational Logic, Content Management
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Skills you'll gain: Video Game Development, Game Design, Unity Engine, Software Design Documents, Design, Experience Design, Usability, Prototyping, Storytelling, Creativity
Mixed · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

Skills you'll gain: Game Design, Video Game Development, Unreal Engine, User Interface (UI), Interactive Design, Animation and Game Design, User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) Design, Data Persistence, Virtual Environment, Computer Graphics, 3D Assets, Visualization (Computer Graphics), Artificial Intelligence, No-Code Development, Data Structures, Debugging, Performance Tuning, Scripting, System Design and Implementation
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

Skills you'll gain: Unity Engine, Game Design, Video Game Development, Performance Tuning, UI Components, Program Development, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), System Configuration, C# (Programming Language), Scripting, Data Structures
Mixed · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

Skills you'll gain: Computer Graphics, 3D Assets, Video Game Development, Game Design, C# (Programming Language), Animations, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), Program Development, Software Installation, Debugging, Computational Logic
Mixed · Course · 1 - 3 Months

Skills you'll gain: Unity Engine, UI Components, User Interface (UI), Responsive Web Design, User Interface (UI) Design, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), Game Design, Scripting, Video Game Development, C# (Programming Language), Animations, Interactive Design, Usability, Debugging
Mixed · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

Skills you'll gain: Game Design, Unity Engine, Animation and Game Design, 3D Assets, Virtual Environment, Video Game Development, User Interface (UI), C# (Programming Language), Scripting, Data Persistence
Mixed · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks