Where to study?

I agree with this statement. A degree in something like mathematics or business will put you in a much better position for the kind of financial success that will allow you to fund a hobby that could, with a lot work, eventually turn into a career.

That being said, if you are really dead set on graduating college with a degree in game design, it is something that is at least theoretically possible. Some colleges allow you to design your own major. For a famous example, Will Shortz got what was probably the first and only degree in enigmatology, the study of puzzles. Shortz is doing pretty well for himself. Google his name if it's not familiar to you.

And, let's face it, a significant portion of college graduates don't get jobs in fields devoted exclusively to their major. A degree in game design would mean you graduated, which is all a lot of employers want in the first place.

Of course the deal here is that if you did this you'd really have to have the drive to do it the full way. No college is going to let you just study games for years at a time. You'll have to research the history of games in general as a self-study. You'll need to pick up some mathematics (statistics especially) and business (for economic theory and maybe to make some money on the games later) to have any serious chance at making the study work (at which point you might just want to get the degree in one of those anyway). You'll have to take the standard liberal arts courses too of course, which would no doubt help you come up with game ideas and designs later.

If you are at all serious about it you should read up on how Shortz got his degree and see if you have the same level of passion. Otherwise there's the safe and practical route.

If it's something you really want to do, there was a thread on here, maybe a month ago, along this sort of thing.

Although, one random thought to throw out there: what would be the benefit to taking a class in this, rather than studying it on your own? If you're worried about access to other gamers, I'd say just make sure you go to a school with a board gaming club (which I think many schools have, either formally or informally), and I'm sure you'll do fine. If you're worried about advice, a lot can be gained from reading internet forums, or just from experience. If you're worried about it not looking legitimate, I don't think anyone will care if you put 100 hours into learning to design board games for fun, or if you did it for 3 units of college credit.

Simon

I agree with what everyone has said about picking a major in business, English, mathematics, or art for many good reasons. But if you are looking to design your own major, I'd suggest looking at small private liberal arts colleges. They offer the most flexibility and personal attention compared to clumsy state universities that often don't want to deal with self-designed majors. Plus, small schools tend to let their students bend the rules about taking classes from different departments and skipping prerequisites.

BTW I heard of a guy who studied coffee, got a BA in it, and is rather loving his managment job at Starbucks.

Oh and think about a school in a city or where it is easy to get to game conventions so that you can network and be a part of what's happening.

Best of luck!!!!