This mini school is part of the UBC Future Global Leaders on-campus program for high school students ages 15–18. It is offered by the UBC School of Creative Writing.
Gain practical skills in writing and learn about career opportunities and pathways in this intensive two-week creative writing mini school focused on writing for video games.
Develop your critical writing and textual analysis skills as you deconstruct and analyze video games and learn to write a wide variety of texts: descriptive, narrative, expository, instructional and persuasive.
By the end of two weeks, you will be able to:
- Identify different types of texts in video games and their function
- Develop compelling characters and worlds
- Create and write an interactive text adventure
Writing for video games is more than writing a voiced conversation or a fetch quest. It is the through-line for design, art, programming, and a myriad of other disciplines in which an entirely custom-made world is communicated.
Experience in computer programming or the digital arts is not required, nor is a familiarity with playing or creating video games. Personal laptop is required.
This mini school is an excellent choice if you are interested in creative writing or video game development or if you just want to improve your writing, critical thinking and teamwork skills in a fun and creative environment.
The UBC School of Creative Writing is one of the oldest and most established academic Creative Writing programs in the world.
Course format
This mini-school is held on the UBC Vancouver campus.
On the first Monday of the session, you attend Orientation Day from 9am–3pm, which helps you build friendships, connect with your learning community, feel comfortable on campus and prepare for university life.
Starting on the first Tuesday of the session, you attend your mini school classes from 9am–12pm and 1:30–3pm on weekdays.
On-campus student life activities are scheduled for all students from 3-5pm on weekdays.
Instructors
This mini school is taught by professors and instructors from the UBC School of Creative Writing.
Residence and commuting options
Choose to live in a student residence on campus or commute daily to UBC Vancouver:
Commuter Option includes lunch in residence dining hall, Monday through Friday, and UBC Recreation Card.
Residence Option includes private room and full board, airport pick-up and drop-off, local medical insurance for all international students, weeknight and weekend social activities (e.g., trips to Grouse Mountain, English Bay and Robson Street), and UBC Recreation Card.
Who is eligible?
This course is for high school students ages 15-18 who have completed grade 10 or equivalent.
We also recommend students have:
- 78% average / 3.5 GPA / B average / IB 5 or higher
- IELTS of 6.0 / TOEFL 80 or higher (or equivalent) for students whose high school courses were taught in a language other than English.
Cost details
| Student type | Mini school fee* |
| Canadian and Permanent Resident | $2,175 CAD |
| International | $2,940 CAD |
Optional add-on
- Residence: $2,730 CAD
*All fees are subject to change.
To register
A Family Account in UBC’s Lifelong Learning registration system is required to register for UBC Future Global Leaders on-campus.
After you add the course to your cart and go to check out, you’re asked to create a new Family Account or log in if you already have a Family Account.
A parent or guardian needs to set up the Family Account with their primary email address. After the account is created, the parent/guardian adds the student as a family member to their Family Account using the student’s primary email address (the student’s email address cannot be the same as the parent/guardian email address).
Add the student to the course session in your cart and complete the checkout process.
After completing the checkout process, and while logged into your Family Account, select New Application to access the FGL information package. Your registration is not final until the information package has been completed and submitted. You may partially complete the information package and return to it at any time within your Family Account.