Cue | Notes |
– what does MDA stand for?? – The three different machines described – Aesthetics MDA Mechanics – MDA Dynamic – MDA How far can you take your project?? the audience, age, etc | – MDA – Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics – MDA is created for game analysis, game design and development, game criticism, and technical game research – Most things are made through some sort of system (methodology) that gives the designer the start and end of the project. MDA makes that easier. – Aesthetics 1. Sensation Game as sense-pleasure 2. Fantasy Game as make-believe 3. Narrative Game as drama 4. Challenge Game as obstacle course 5. Fellowship Game as social framework 6. Discovery Game as uncharted territory 7. Expression Game as self-discovery 8. Submission Game as pastime – Mechanics Mechanics are the various actions, behaviors and control mechanisms afforded to the player within a game context. – Dynamic Encourages individual users to leave their mark: systems for purchasing, building or earning game items, for designing, constructing and changing levels or worlds, and for creating personalized, unique characters. – When done with any process you should go through the tuning phase where you test and tune the game. – The three steps to checking your games MDA – First Pass What are the aesthetic goals for this design? Exploration and discovery are probably more important than challenges. As such the dynamics are optimized here not for “winning” or “competition” – Second Pass Consider a different version of the game. (age, audience, etc) – Third Pass Consider a version of the game for the older audience, what things can you add in?? (Looting, missions, weapons) – Conclusion So after this you can now see, what things to restrict of difficulty, or inconvenience, etc |
Summary
MDA stands for Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics which makes analyzing your game for error so much easier. It goes both ways though, it also allows the criticizer to make criticism. MDA gives you steps to analysis and criticize a game.