Real people teaching real skills – that's what sets us apart in game development education
Back in 2016, three of us were working at different gaming studios around Manchester and London. We kept running into the same problem – brilliant graduates who knew theory but struggled with the practical side of game development. The gap between what universities taught and what the industry actually needed was huge.
After one particularly frustrating recruitment cycle where we couldn't find developers who understood social casino mechanics, we decided to do something about it. We started small – weekend workshops in a rented space in Southampton, teaching the specific skills we wished our new hires already had.
Those workshops grew into something bigger than we expected. By 2018, we'd formalized into Tumulus, focusing specifically on social casino game development because that's where we saw the biggest skills shortage.
We're not trying to be everything to everyone. Our focus is narrow but deep – teaching people how to build engaging social casino games that players actually want to play.
We design our curriculum around real project briefs from gaming companies. Students work on actual challenges that developers face daily, not theoretical exercises that sound good on paper.
Maximum 12 students per cohort. This isn't just a number we picked – it's the sweet spot where everyone gets individual attention but still benefits from peer collaboration and code reviews.
We won't promise you'll become a senior developer in three months. Good programming takes time to develop. What we will do is give you a solid foundation and the confidence to keep learning.
Lead Game Developer & Course Director
Spent eight years at Playtech before joining us full-time in 2019. Dmitri writes most of our JavaScript curriculum and has this knack for explaining complex programming concepts using simple analogies. He's the one who insists we teach debugging skills from day one – "because that's what you'll spend most of your time doing anyway."
UX Design Instructor & Player Psychology Specialist
Former UX designer at King and Zynga. Amara joined us because she was tired of seeing beautiful games that nobody wanted to play. She teaches the psychology side of game design – why players make certain choices, how to design engaging progression systems, and when to break conventional design rules.
Most coding bootcamps rush through topics to cover as much ground as possible. We do the opposite. We pick the essential skills for social casino development and make sure students really understand them before moving on.
Each module builds a complete game feature from scratch. Week one might be a simple slot reel system. By week four, you're adding bonus rounds and progressive jackpots. By week eight, you're implementing player analytics and monetization features.
We also spend time on the business side that other programs ignore – player retention metrics, A/B testing game features, and understanding different market regulations. These aren't just nice-to-know topics; they directly impact how you design and build games.
We teach clean, maintainable code from the start. Students learn to write code that their future teammates will thank them for, not curse them over.
Real game development involves deadlines, changing requirements, and working with existing codebases. We simulate these conditions rather than creating artificial perfect scenarios.
We don't just teach what to code – we explain why certain patterns work better for different types of games, why performance matters in casino games, and why player data drives design decisions.
The gaming industry changes fast. We teach students how to stay current with new technologies and trends, not just memorize today's tools.
We give direct, constructive criticism on code and game design. Students know exactly where they stand and what they need to improve.
Our teaching team still works with gaming companies on consulting projects. This keeps our curriculum current and gives students insight into real industry challenges.
Our autumn 2025 cohort starts in September, and we're already planning improvements based on feedback from recent graduates. We're adding more content on mobile-first design and expanding our modules on player analytics.
What won't change is our commitment to small class sizes and hands-on learning. We've turned down opportunities to expand rapidly because we believe quality education can't be mass-produced.
If you're considering joining us, know that we're selective about who we accept – not because we're elitist, but because our intensive format works best for people who are genuinely committed to learning game development.
