Games research and education (M.Sc. and Ph.D.)

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The Institute of Digital Games is the centre for research and education in game design, game analysis, and game technology at the University of Malta.

Our work is at the forefront of innovative games research. We explore games and play, uncovering new playful and generative possibilities in game design and technology. We delve into everything games can teach us about ourselves.

Our multidisciplinary academic team spans computer science, literature, game design, philosophy, media studies, and social sciences.

Read our latest report: IDG Annual Report - Academic Year 2021/22

David developed an innovative model for understanding board game involvement for his thesis.

It is an environment roaring with ideas, thoughts, games, prototypes, concepts. It was a period when I felt constantly inspired.

Rebecca is researching narrative in games. As part of her thesis, she developed a choice-driven video game.

Practice in the form of game project assignments and a supportive teaching staff really boost your confidence as a game designer!

The Institute feels like a little community that you're part of.

William's research explored the procedural generation of multi-floor levels for first-person shooters.

Being involved in the research process, I realised how passionate everyone at IDG is about their research.

David C.
Graduated in 2015
Rebecca P.
Graduated in 2017
William C.
Graduated in 2015

Blog What we have been up to lately

GECCO 2016 conference

July 26, 2016

IDG member Georgios N. Yannakakis just attended the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference in Colorado, presenting original work from the Institute of Digital Games on evolutionary divergent search. The paper presented by Georgios is titled … read more

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Tag-team guest lecture in meaningful game design

July 20, 2016

The MFA Program in Art of Game Design (LCAD, Laguna Beach - California) presents a 'tag-team public lecture in meaningful game design' featuring IDG's own Stefano Gualeni and Michelle Westerlaken from the University of Malmö: … read more

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ICCC 2016 conference

July 4, 2016

IDG members Antonios Liapis and Phil Lopes have attended the International Conference of Computational Creativity (ICCC) in Paris to present exciting new work from the Institute. ICCC is a lively conference which studies the art, science, philosophy and … read more

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Podcast: the transformative effects of game design

June 16, 2016

Stefano recently participated in a podcast organized by Italian game scholars Riccardo Fassone and Mauro Salvador concerning the transformative effects of designing videogames, playing videogames, and studying videogames. Stefano, Riccardo, … read more

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The Art of Game Design in California

June 15, 2016

Last night, at the main campus of the Laguna College of Art and Design (Laguna Beach, California), IDG's own Stefano Gualeni inaugurated his summer course for their MFA in Game Design. The course is titled 'Game Design: theories, methods, … read more

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New work opportunities for M.Sc. in Digital Games

June 14, 2016

The Institute of Digital Games has announced a new collaboration with Maltco Lotteries, who will sponsor paid research assistant positions for talented students of our M.Sc. in Digital Games over the next two years. Current and future students of the M.Sc. … read more