Digital Game Design

One of the most vibrant sections of the Games for Change 2025 Istanbul event, hosted by Bahçeşehir University, was the Arcade area, which showcased a variety of innovative and impactful games. Among these, one of the standout titles was “Monkey Business,” developed by Research Assistant Orhan Yavuz Erhan and his team, all consisting of students from Bahçeşehir University’s Game Design Master’s Program. 

As part of the inspiring Games for Change 2025 Istanbul event, hosted wonderfully by Bahçeşehir University, one of the standout sessions came from Şeyma Nur Tahmaz, instructor in the Digital Game Design Department. Her presentation, titled “The Same Walls, Different Worlds: Urban & Virtual Accessibility,” was featured within the special theme of Critical and Practical Perspectives in Impact Game Design, one of the key focus areas of this year’s gathering.

Hosted wonderfully by Bahçeşehir University, Games for Change 2025 Istanbul brought together the gaming industry, academia, and students over on December 6–7. On the second day of the event, the panel titled “Gender Equality, Diversity and Community Building in Gaming” provided an in-depth discussion on how inclusivity and diversity can be strengthened within the world of games.

The twelfth GameTalks event organized by the Department of Digital Game Design took place on Thursday, November 27, featuring guest speaker Emre Gökçe Çimen, an accomplished artist.

During the session, Çimen explored the role of visual design in both board games and video games, demonstrating how art functions as a powerful storytelling and world-building tool. He discussed essential elements of visual design; such as character design, environmental storytelling, color theory, and composition, and explained how they shape the player’s experience.

The eleventh GameTalks event organized by the Digital Game Design Department took place on Wednesday, November 26, featuring guest speakers Zeynep Burcu Kaya Alpan (Arcade Coordinator) and Meral Didar Ağlaç (Program Coordinator) from Games for Change Türkiye.

The tenth session of the "GameTalks" series organized by the Department of Digital Game Design took place on Wednesday, November 12, with Dr. Ali Fasih Sayın as the guest speaker. 

Dr. Sayın, who has worked on major titles such as Crysis and Hunt: Showdown, delivered a presentation titled “Narrative Design in Games.”

Organized by the Department of Digital Game Design, “FallJam 2025 – Halloween!” offered students an unforgettable 48-hour game development experience.

Held between November 7–9, the event brought together creative minds who worked tirelessly to turn their digital game ideas into playable projects.

The second guest of the “Dev-Meets” event series, organized by the Department of Digital Game Design, was one of Türkiye’s leading independent game studios, Newmind Interactive. Held on Monday, October 13, the event featured Anıl Yıldız (Co-Founder & Lead Developer), Batuhan Gözlüklü (Co-Founder & Narrative Lead), Öykü Baltacı (Narrative & Design), and Kayra Bora Keskin (Developer).  Our guests shared both the story of their studio and their experiences in the game industry with students.

The "Game On" event organized by the Department of Digital Game Design met with players with its second session held on Thursday, April 17. In the practical leg of the "Game On! | FRP Day" title, four different Dungeon Masters (DMs) visited our university and offered different FRP (Fantasy Role-Playing) experiences to the participants.

Within the scope of the “GameTalks” events organized by the Department of Digital Game Design, researcher Beril Toper and urban planner Berra Güzeller met with our students on Thursday, March 27. Beril Toper presented “Games as Cultural Heritage: Shaping and Transferring Culture through Play,” in which she discussed the function of cultural heritage in games and how they carry the past to the present.