Whether you are an indie developer or work in AAA, whether you are a game designer, writer, level designer or artist, this course will teach you all you need to know about the cities, and urban environments of gaming.

You will gain insight into how cities work, learn how to design quality game cities from start to finish, understand the ways through which urbanism can bring richness, originality, and believability into game worlds, explore the immense storytelling potential of civic life, and discover the methods that will allow you to construct living, breathing, and, above all, memorable and fascinating urban geographies.

🎓 Lessons will guide you, step by step, from the conception of novel urban spaces and the defining of their architecture, civic life and history, all the way to the mapping of their functions, and the planning of their structure.

📚 Assignments will help you understand the design & development problems game cities face, practice city-building, and explore the many facets of game urbanism.

By the end of the course you will be concepting, understanding, and designing playable cities like a game urbanist. You will be able to combine the principles of urbanism, game design, and level design to enrich your games and settings.


What do you need video game city design and game urbanism for?

Cities are perfect for games. They allow us to tell stories, craft complex levels in deep worlds, and pithily encapsulate our settings. It is no accident that some of the finest and most memorable game environments include Disco Elysium's Revachol, Dark Souls' Anor Londo, Cyberpunk 2077's Night City or GTA V's Los Santos. 

Cities are packed with locations and characters. They are steeped in history, overflow with possibilities, and can serve as elaborate storytelling stages or even protagonists of games. They can tell stories, and shape game mechanics; nurture visual ideas, and suggest traversal solutions. They can make worlds believable, and, thus, hopefully, also immersive.

Learning how to create, how to design, and how to flesh out game cities is an invaluable skill for every creative in game development!