Designed to Drive Change
The American University Game Lab serves as a hub for experiential education, persuasive play research, and innovative production in the fields of games for change and purposeful play. Both a Master's degree and a Certificate program in Game Design are offered jointly by the School of Communication (SOC) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). SOC also offers an MFA in Games and Interactivity, as well as a concentration on Games and Interactivity within the MFA in Film and Electronic Media. CAS offers a Game and Computational Media track with the MS in Computer Science.
Students get real-world experience by working on projects with the Game Studio, and with clients like the Educational Testing Service, the National Institute of Mental Health, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and WAMU 88.5.
Meet the Team
Game Lab students learn how to apply game design to non-game contexts.
Students present at major game conferences like GDC, SXSW, and Games for Change.
A crowd of gamers attend Indie Arcade, hosted by Game Lab and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
The Game Lab is directed by internationally exhibited game artist and designer Lindsay Grace.
Students attend an eSports event at the White House — a perk of studying in DC.
Game Lab aims to develop leaders in purpose driven game design.
Game Lab professor Benjamin Stokes presents about games and cities at the Games+ Summit.
Demo Reel
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Projects from American University Game Lab students and faculty assembled in 2013.
Top Game Design Program
The Princeton Review has ranked American University in its "Top 25 Graduate Schools to Study Game Design" every year since the program launched.
Games By the Numbers
The Game Lab leverages proximity to public and private sector leaders to bring games to traditionally non-game contexts for new levels of engagement.
Awkward Annie
Students learn social conventions in this Game Studio project for the Educational Testing Service (ETS).
The AU Game Lab has a 4 to 1 Student-Faculty ratio
Innovation and Journalism through Game Design
What can game designers teach journalists about creating engaging experiences?