Notes on MDA

Notes on MDA


Can I even bother to be the rude nerd I usually am on this blog today?

YES! Greetings, mortals! A very good evening to you!

So, the other day I did a bit of reading in the form of an article written by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek, entitled "MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research".

So, what does MDA stand for? Short answer: Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics. I don't have a long answer.

Mechanics covers the solid rules of the game; "This can happen, this can happen, and this can happen. This cannot happen. " Mechanics are the only things game designers really have any control over in the development process.

Dynamics are the run-time behaviour of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others' outputs. These are influenced by the mechanics and the player's input into the game.

Aesthetics are the desirable emotional reactions evoked in the player as they play the game. These are also uncontrollable directly by the designer, but are influenced by the mechanics. For example, if a game's desired emotion is fear (or a similar emotional reaction), then the aesthetic would be intended to be one of fear, through the mechanics and dynamics (a monster charging toward the player gives a great aesthetic of impending threat).

So, we know what MDA stands for, but what's it's purpose? Basically, it is an attempt to bridge the gap between the design process and the creation process of game development. Using this method, a game designer can analyse and refine the process of game creation and improve it next time; this can be done in two ways:

• analysing the end result to refine implementation.
• analyse implementation to refine the end result.

The process of designing and creation is clearly described it the format of MDA, going from Mechanics to Dynamics to Aesthetics in the same order as the designer does. After this, we can apply certain parts of a game's design, such as an aesthetic, and objectively ascertain the process by which we attain that aesthetic from a design standpoint, which can be done prespectively or retrospectively.

For example, if we use fear as an aesthetical goal, we need to find some mechanics and emergent dynamics which will result in the player feeling afraid when they play the game. A fine example of a game which does this well is "Amnesia: The Dark Descent", created by Frictional Games in 2011. So what makes Amnesia a frightening game to play? One of the most powerful things about this game is it's atmosphere. Atmosphere can be described as a dynamic, emerging from a number of mechanics working together: certain, pre-scripted events occur in the game, such as music, unsettling noises, light levels, the way the level is designed so you just can't see around that corner, come together to form this overall trait which progresses as the player does, and results in the emotional reaction of fear and apprehension.

Let's use another example from the same game; the "Gatherers" of Amnesia. The cold, hard enemies of the game, who show up every so often to terrify the player senseless, and give the main character a bad day. Now, why do they terrify the player senseless? A number of interesting dynamics are related to the appearance of the Gatherers, which are themselves comprised of a number of mechanics (or lack thereof) working together. A very good mechanics choice (in my opinion) is the player's inability to fight; you can't stop the Gatherers, it just doesn't happen, there's no way to hurt them.

Because you can't fight them, the only thing you can do is hide, and hope they don't find you. The hiding dynamic of this game is born out of the mechanics which mean the Gatherer can't see you when you're behind another object, such as when hiding in a wardrobe. Hiding in a wardrobe while you hear a monster outside completely trashing the room, desperate to peek out to see what's happening, but terrified it'll see you is an incredibly powerful aesthetic which, in my opinion, can be related back to when you were a child playing hide and seek; the person hiding, knowing the seeker is close, is thrillingly terrifying, and this is perfectly recreated in Amnesia.

So, for example, I could use this method of looking at an aesthetic and tracing it back into mechanics to build a more frightening game than Amnesia, which will evoke a more powerful or well-balanced emotional reaction from ther player. I could look at the hiding mechanic and say

"This is good, but it would also be good if you could hide in other places than wardrobes. Maybe if the player could hide under the bed in some rooms, and only see the Gatherer's feet shuffling around as it searches?"

This is the process of refinement, which can be reached by using the method of MDA.

I really liked this article; seeing the process these guys suggested and then trying it out for myself like that really feels encouraging that this is the way to make design advance the way other formats (such as hardware) advance.

That's it for now, mortals. Apologies that this was so very, very late. It was just sitting in my blog list as a draft for over a week, and I literally just noticed it and decided to pick it up. I really need to get the next post done soon.

Praise the Emperor, and a very good night to you!