More than fun and games: GIMM program offers career prep, hands-on experience

A GIMM student demonstrates a video game they designed. Photo by Sam Butler

Alan Tucker (B.S. Games, Interactive Media and Mobile Technology, 2023) hated school and wasn't interested in going to college. After high school graduation, he spent over a year working 60-hour weeks at a factory, but in the back of his mind, he knew this wasn't what he wanted long-term. He, begrudgingly, began looking into a college education. What he found was disappointing, he said - that is, until he talked to Anthony Ellertson, director of Boise State's Department of Games, Interactive Media and Mobile Technology, or GIMM.

"I could tell that he just had a different way of thinking about education," Tucker said. "So I was like, 'I'm going to try this.'"

At its most basic, GIMM prepares students to design virtual reality experiences, which can include passion projects like video games, digital art and fantasy character design, as well as practical tools that almost every company and government agency uses, like online tutorials and websites.

As of spring 2026, students can major in GIMM or receive a 12-credit Certificate in Creative Arts Technology. This fall, GIMM will introduce two new minors: Interactive Film, a collaboration with the Department of Film that focuses on creating virtual reality environments and 360 video; and Interactive Animation, a collaboration with the Department of Art, Design and Visual Studies.

GIMM graduates have landed jobs at major video game companies, as well as Fortune 500s like Amazon, Microsoft and Apple. But before that, they start in an encouraging, tight-knit cohort.

Where ambition meets community

GIMM sign in Albertsons Library. Photo by Sam Butler

Tucker partially credits GIMM's cohort-based structure for his enjoyment of college.

"Rather than, you go into a class, you meet all those people, and then the class is over and you never see them again, in GIMM, you take the same major classes with your cohort," Tucker explained. "And so you evolve with your cohort. You get better with them, and you can see everybody's personal journey."

Tucker reflected that in modern times, community can be hard to find, especially in the context of working toward a goal, not just hanging out or casually participating in a hobby.

"GIMM was a community working towards something," Tucker said. "It helped me grow and start thinking deeper about my life, and programming and development, and what I really wanted to do."

Go to the GIMM space on the first floor of the Albertsons Library, and you're likely to find students there even on evenings and weekends, said Anthony Ellertson.

"They're working on projects and classwork, obviously," Ellertson said, "but sometimes they're playing games together, they're working on projects together that they love."

Hands-on learning

What else makes GIMM unique as a major? Partly, it's the breadth of education: students are free to explore coding, user experience design, art and more. According to Clinical Associate Professor Karen Doty, students may expect to learn 3D modeling, animation and object-oriented programming - a computer programming model that organizes software design around data "objects" - to name just a few examples.

"Not only are they developing and designing all of the different products, they are also testing, to make sure the products make sense to the people that are going to be experiencing them," Doty said. "You're learning everything hands-on, from the beginning, from scratch. So, the coding, the art and the usability."

Real clients, real impact

Senior Mae Bridgeman displays their personal capstone project, a horror video game, at the GIMM senior showcase on March 26, 2026 in Albertsons Library. "I decided on GIMM two years before I graduated from high school," Bridgeman said. "My whole life, I've wanted to be in a creative industry." Photo by Sam Butler

It's not optional; all GIMM students graduate with real-world experience. Senior GIMM majors must complete the capstone class, which involves two projects. One is a client project that they work on all year long - potential clients often join a waitlist due to high demand for help from GIMM students. Past partners have included NASA and Boise's Wassmuth Center for Human Rights.

Students work in teams to collaborate on initiatives like creating user interface solutions for future spaceflights, or virtual reality games to teach about human rights.

"We have different clients every year, and [students] apply to those client projects in industry, so, similar to a job," said Doty, who teaches the capstone class. "I assign them based on their skillsets and also their interests and what they want to do post-graduation."

The second capstone project is a deep-dive, personal passion project. The requirements for this piece are not only to create an artifact, but also to teach the rest of the class how you did it, so that everyone can learn something new.

Gaming for a better world

These days, Tucker sees a world of possibility in video games. His post-college experience involved a few months at Curious Media in Boise, where he worked on programming a children's game called Noggin. Now, Tucker is finishing up his Master of Human-Computer Interaction at Iowa State University, where his thesis focuses on how we can use gaming to imagine a better world, including different social and political structures.

In addition to working on his thesis, Tucker has spent time teaching anthropology at Iowa State - a big change for someone who almost gave up on school at 18. Tucker still appreciates the way Boise State's GIMM program opened educational opportunities.

"If you really want to be challenged and learn how to learn on your own, and have a community to do that with and some guidance," he said, "it's a really powerful program."

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