Games MDA

 Design, Dynamics & Experience (DDE) for Game design

I have never come across this topic therefore MDA and DDE are new things I have come across for this week’s reading. When I read the definition of MDA I thought Aesthetics would fall under Design therefore when I read it neglects design aspects then I started getting confused.

My favourite framework from this reading.

image source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Elemental-Tetrad-Adapted-from-Schell-2008-Retrieved-from_fig3_336069825

In this article I found the Elemental Tetrad to be the best framework. This diagram has the “more visible and less visible” spectrum that makes it so clear compared to the rest. 

I agree that Mechanics and Aesthetics are in fact directly connected. In my opinion they should be connected as game development should have a constant flow through all these aspects mentioned in the Tetrad. In MDA, they describe it like a ladder without steps that have “no connection”. I agree with Brian Winn in this article as MDA does focus on purely the outcome of entertainment from this framework and not the art that can go into serious games. 

I enjoyed reading this article as it showed me different pros and cons of each framework. For my project in this module I will come back to this reading and pick the suitable framework that would work for my game.

I don’t like Winn’s framework and even though it has more detail to it I feel like there it too much. Without an explanation I cannot understand this framework. I enjoyed the analogy of the car for MDA, “motor, gearbox and wheels”. It made me understand it more and for my final project I will not choose the MDA framework. DDE seems like the best option as it shows there is more to the game than just mechanics. I found this week’s reading to be the most challenging but informative.