MDA framework
In short A model that follows a game from its rules, through the play they produce, to what the player feels.
Definition
The MDA framework, set out by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc and Robert Zubek in 2004, splits a game into mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics. Mechanics are the rules and actions the designer builds. Dynamics are what those rules do once a player acts inside them. Aesthetics are the player's emotional responses, such as challenge, fellowship or discovery. The designer works from mechanics towards feeling, while the player meets the game from the feeling first, which is why changing one rule can change how a whole game feels. The framework is a tool for analysis, not a recipe: it describes how feeling is made out of rules, not which feelings a game should aim for.
Not to be confused with
- Mechanic
A mechanic is a single rule-driven action; MDA is a model of how mechanics turn into play and then into feeling.
- Feedback loop
A feedback loop is one kind of dynamic; MDA is the framework in which such dynamics sit between rules and feeling.
Where the game lives
- rules: used
- goals: used
- feedback: used
- uncertainty: used
- choice: used
- play: used
MDA spans every structure. Rules and goals are mechanics; feedback, uncertainty and choice appear as dynamics; play is where the aesthetics are felt.
used dropped
Examples
Brothers: A Tale of Two SonsStarbreeze Studios, 2013
One brother per thumbstick is the mechanic, hours of split control the dynamic, and grief when one stick is left without a brother the aesthetic.
Shadow of the ColossusTeam Ico, 2005
A long climb-and-kill loop leaves time to feel each death, so the guilt comes from the loop rather than from a cutscene.
In the essays
Industry, Art, Media: What Video Games Actually Are
A video game is three things at once: an industrial product, an artistic work and a medium that argues. The most revealing parts of a game sit where the three meet.
Sources
- PaperMDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research. 2004.