Within WPI’s Interactive Media & Game Development (IMGD) program are passionate gamers who are also artists, programmers, storytellers, musicians, and explorers. Trailblazers as individuals and as a community, WPI’s IMGD faculty and undergraduate and graduate students are pushing the boundaries of new worlds of emerging media, from mobile gaming to intelligent tutoring.
WPI’s IMGD program, one of the earliest gaming programs in the nation, blends the artistic and technical aspects of game development and interactive media. Our research and courses span such diverse topics as digital painting, 3-D modeling, writing for games, game audio, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. Working alongside renowned faculty researchers and industry advisors, students are immersed from the start in creating games and interactive environments that shape advances in the gaming industry as well as areas like education, healthcare, art, and social sciences.
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A team of WPI students took home the grand prize at the 2016 Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDiGI) Game Challenge pitch contest. In their game, Intern Astronaut, the player takes the role of an inexperienced intern thrust into the position of piloting a spaceship with only commands from mission control as guidance.
In a family of six siblings, Karen Royer grew up with the tradition of making pysanky, or Ukrainian eggs, around Easter. With the holiday right around the corner, she thought she’d share her roots in the classroom, so she brought in eggs and dye, and invited some colleagues to join her.
The Wall Street Journal a letter to the editor by Interactive Media and Game Development professor Jennifer deWinter, written in response to an article about how movies based on Nintendo characters, particularly those focused on Super Mario Bros., have fared in the past.
The Telegram & Gazette profiled IMGD Professor Lee Sheldon’s unique approach to teaching in the article. Sheldon runs this class as a game, rather than a traditional lecture. Aside from teaching students how to craft their own game characters and character narratives, they also develop skills that are translatable to real world skills, such as public speaking, resume writing, and decision making.
Graduate Schools to Study Game Design
Game Design School Rankings, among private schools and colleges
The video game industry is a fast-paced, entrepreneurial business, where innovation and collaboration drive success. WPI’s comprehensive IMGD program gives students the critical thinking skills that employers seek, and our well-connected faculty provide an insider’s perspective. Graduates of WPI's IMGD program are employed across business, government, industry, and academia.
