MDA
A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research
by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek
The MDA paper was developed and taught as part of the Game Design and Tuning Workshop at the Game Developers Conference, San Jose 2001 - 2004. The paper presents a formal approach to understanding games in which it attempts to close the gap between game design & development, game criticism & technical game research. The desired outcome of the papers publishing is to help all aspects of game design and research breakdown games into abstract sections to pin point and enhance iterative processes of developers, scholars and researchers.
MDA stands for Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics. Lets break it down :-
Mechanics - Describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms. Jumping, Walking, Flying and Fighting are all examples for mechanics, they are the backbone and underlying structure of a game. Think of these as the rules, the boundaries you are limited to and the tools given to you to perform the task.
Dynamics - Describes the run-time behavior of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others’ outputs over time. Dynamics are used to create aesthetic experience within the game. Examples of this are time pressure or high scores to create a challenge for the user(s), team or co-op based games promote fellowship as a aesthetic, unlocking new items or levels as you proceed through the game creates discovery.
Aesthetics - Describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when they interact with the game system. What makes the game "fun"? How do we know a specific type of fun when we see it. Aesthetics are the components that create their respective player experiences, such as :-
As designers we see the MDA framework within games differently to the user(s). Neither perspective is right or wrong but it is fundamental as designers that we see it from both points of view. Doing so will help us observe how even the smallest of changes in one element of a game can affect the others,
Using These Tools
Using what has been discussed above we can start to break down games into their MDA components and begin to fine tune our games. There is no magical formula in each genre of game that will make it a success but breaking it down as we have will give us the ability to define which mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics work within the game, how much of each component should we emphasize on and where or when should it be used.
Each time you tune something within the game, wither it be just a simple bit of story text or maybe a colour change, you will need to evaluate how this affect the other elements of the play. Does it take away from the narrative?, How does it take away from it? Where does it take it from? Does it change anything else? Does it work?. All these questions can be answered by using the tools in this paper, by understanding how they are connected and why they are in the game.
Each time you tune something within the game, wither it be just a simple bit of story text or maybe a colour change, you will need to evaluate how this affect the other elements of the play. Does it take away from the narrative?, How does it take away from it? Where does it take it from? Does it change anything else? Does it work?. All these questions can be answered by using the tools in this paper, by understanding how they are connected and why they are in the game.
Final Thoughts
A surprisingly interesting read once you rap your head around the idea of MDA. Took me a couple read thoughts to fully grasp the concept Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc & Robert Zubek were proposing and got me thinking about the group project a lot and what aesthetics we currently have in it and how I can improve upon them using the dynamics and mechanics we already have in place. Great paper for starting to understand how you refine your game instead of just throwing every mechanic you can find in it and TRY to make it work.
I was directed to a video that covers this paper by Jack Murry, I found it very informative and well worth a watch if this is something your interested in.
Penny Arcade - MDA video
I was directed to a video that covers this paper by Jack Murry, I found it very informative and well worth a watch if this is something your interested in.
Penny Arcade - MDA video
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