Games Research and Education (M.Sc. and Ph.D.)

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Welcome to the Institute of Digital Games, the research and education centre at the University of Malta, focusing on game design, game analysis, and game technology!

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.

Click here to read our annual report for the year 2022/2023.

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

FDG2022 and the Institute of Digital Games

September 12, 2022

The Institute of Digital Games has, for a few days, moved to Athens, Greece. Nothing to worry about, as we are happy to continue to do research and education in Malta. The Institute's presence was crucial, in those days, for what concerned … read more

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IDG at Gamescom 2022

August 29, 2022

Renato Carvalho, our research support officer for the Institute of Digital Games went to Cologne, Germany, last week to represent the University of Malta and share all the work and research that is going on at the Institute at GamesCom 2022. Gamescom is … read more

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New publication on musical improvisation with digital games …

August 4, 2022

Dr. Costantino Oliva, Lecturer and Course Coordinator at the Institute of Digital Games, is the author of “Otogarden: Exploring Musical Improvisation in Video Games”, an article published in the Journal of Sound and Music in Video Games, University of … read more

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IDG Faculty Members and Researchers at DiGRA 2022

August 2, 2022

Earlier last month, IDG – Institute of Digital Games members participated in DiGRA 2022, the annual international conference of the Digital Games Research Association. This year's edition of the conference - the first after a two-year … read more

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IDG research wins Best Paper on AI - ICCC 2022

July 25, 2022

The paper “Seeding diversity into AI Art”, written by Mr Marvin Zammit, Dr Antonios Liapis, and Prof Georgios Yannakakis from the Institute of Digital Games of the University of Malta has been awarded Best Student Paper at the 13th … read more

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IDG Researchers receive the Best Student Paper Award

July 7, 2022

On 30 June, 2022, IDG researchers Marvin Zammit, Antonios Liapis, and Georgios N. Yannakakis received the Best Student Paper award at the 13th International Conference on Computational Creativity for their work on "Seeding Diversity in AI Art". The awarded … read more

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