Dear students,
Throughout human history, games have provided many opportunities such as having fun, learning, staying in touch, “interacting” and coming together. Thus, games have been an important part of community relations since the earliest periods of humanity, maintaining their place in social life and their importance in the cultural context. From Mancala, which is one of the first examples of game-based competition in history, to strategic games such as chess, which emphasise creativity, calculation ability and imagination, and the Olympics, which were organised in Ancient Greece and appealed to a wider audience, the whole of the activities that have developed are early examples of game culture and have shaped our understanding of the game. As the Department of Digital Game Design, we engage with the historical roots of games and aim to shape the games of the future based on these roots. By offering you the opportunity to analyse the evolution of games in the past, we enable you to grasp the basic principles of game design. In this way, we learn how we can deliver compelling narratives through games and create unforgettable experiences for users of the game world.
The birth of digital games is based on the collective intelligence and creative thinking of a group of students. “Spacewar!”, born from the merger, becomes the milestone of one of the most important sectors of the world and creates a field so influential that it is the reason why we are meeting with you today. In the time that has passed until today, digital games constitute an important wing of communication studies with new possibilities of storytelling on a line where technology and art merge. Thus, digital games are not only a means of entertainment but also play an important role in areas such as education, health and social interaction. Within this framework, our mission is to provide you, our esteemed students, with the basic principles of these exciting fields, to develop your creative thinking skills on a path from the past to the future and to discover the power of games.
A journey from the past to the future… Our aim is not only to look at the past of games, but also to focus on the future. As the Department of Digital Game Design, we offer a comprehensive education to students who want to stand out in today’s rapidly developing, changing and transforming digital game industry. In the theoretical field, we help you create original and meaningful game experiences by enabling you to understand the social, cultural and artistic contexts of games. On the technical side, we make our students competent in the tools and technologies used in the game development process. We enable you to realise your creative ideas by using professional game development tools such as game engines, programming languages, graphics and animation tools. In addition, we aim to enable you to develop your teamwork and project management skills and gain experience in collaborating on real-world projects.
In the Department of Digital Game Design, we will help you shape your career with an expert academic staff. With the education you receive in our department, you will have the opportunity to work in various positions such as game designer, game programmer, game artist, game scriptwriter or game manager in game studios. You may also have the opportunity to establish your own game studio and realise your own projects by using your entrepreneurial spirit.
Digital games have the potential to contribute not only to entertainment but also to social good. Games can be used in the field of education to support learning processes, can be used as a rehabilitation tool in the health sector, and can address social problems to raise awareness. As the Department of Digital Game Design, we offer our students the opportunity to explore this potential and transform it into social benefit. We invite you to step into the exciting and dynamic atmosphere of the game world. In short, you will have the opportunity to develop your creativity, analytical thinking skills and technical skills in the Department of Digital Game Design. We look forward to you becoming pioneers in the game world and creating unforgettable gaming experiences in the future!
Assist. Prof. Dr. Batu DURU
Head of Digital Game Design Department