Perspectives

There's the old adage stating "...walk a mile in someone else's shoes..." that reminds us to consider situations from someone else's perspective. In Play-Centric Design, we've highlighted the critical importance of the game-player in our design efforts.

Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics (MDA) Overview

The MDA framework, as summarized in the following figure (Hunicke, LeBlanc, & Zubek, 2004), suggests that there are two key perspectives: the game-player and the game-designer.

When we create a game, we keep both perspectives in mind and, most importantly, recognize that a change driven from one perspective will impact and drive change for the other perspective. This means that if we make a change to an algorithm, it is likely to change how we are able to generate an emotional response from the game-player. Conversely, if we strive to generate a new or different emotional response from the game-player, then we impact the mechanics of the game.

Emotional Responses

People like a variety of games for a variety of different reasons. In general, games will generate one or more emotional responses. Emotional responses for a game could be related to the following elements:

• Fantasy
• Challenge
• Fellowship
• Discovery
• Expression

Consider Emotions!

As you design your game, consider the game-player perspective and the emotional responses you are trying to create. In your Game Development Journal, answer the following questions:

1. What emotions do you experience when you play your favourite game?
2. What aspects of the game generate those emotions?

References

Dormans, J. (2012). Engineering emergence: applied theory for game design. Universiteit van Amsterdam [Host].

Hunicke, R., LeBlanc, M., & Zubek, R. (2004, July). MDA: A formal approach to game design and game research. In Proceedings of the AAAI Workshop on Challenges in Game AI (Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1-5). AAAI Press San Jose, CA.

Mignano, M. (2016, July 25). Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics(MDA): Game design theory behind games. Retrieved March 17, 2018, from http://gamedevelopertips.com/mechanics-dynamics-aesthetics-game-design-theory-behind-games/