Week 4 - MDA: A formal approach to games design and game research.

Games are: "systems that build behaviour via interaction"


The article explains a way (MDA) of understanding games in a better light by "bridging the gap between games design and development, game criticism and technical game research".


- Games are like any other consumable product on the market, they are purchased, used and then thrown away most likely.
- MDA explains how consumers "consume" a game and generates it's designing counterpart.
- It's an obvious statement to say the designer and player have different perspectives of the game, but it is important to understand where each is coming from to better a game.


Framework


Designers:
Mechanics -> Dynamics -> Aesthetics
M - How the game works, it's rules and settings.
D - How the game reacts after it's been interacted with.
A - The audiences behaviour while interaction.


Players:
Aesthetics -> Dynamics -> Mechanics
A - The emotions felt by the user (eg. happy when won, frustrated when stuck etc.)
D - Tactical choices in the game (eg. where do you move next)
M - What is actually happening, where is the player positioned, goes back to rules of the game (eg. using dice)


tbf