Games MDA

There was a lot of useful information within the material that I researched for this article. The material discussed the aesthetics of video games, particularly it delved into the topic of "fun" in games. It talked about how we derive eight different kinds of fun from different games. These eight types are sensation, fantasy, narrative, challenge, fellowship, discovery expression and submission. Finding a game as fun is upon inspection a very loose blanket term, it indicates that we enjoy the game but this could be for so many reasons, this material discussed the reasons why we enjoy them.

It used some examples of games, such as Quake, Final Fantasy and party classic Charades, we like Quake because of its fast paced action (sensation) and its competitive nature between each and every one of its players, but that isn't why we like Charades, we like Charades because of its comradery (fellowship) and its fun nature. There's no solid equation for enjoyment of a video game, instead its a mix and mash of various different aspects. 

Most games contain models, as talked about in the reading material models are a collection of game mechanics, shooters contain fast action gun play while strategy games contain methodical turn based movements. By unifying this information with the aforementioned eight types of fun we can see a link between video games that we haven't seen before, because when stripped to their core these games contain identical fundamentals to others based on their genre alone. This MDA framework helps to break down games and helps people to better understand the relationship between game producer and game consumer.

"Quake Champions"
Source: Polygon.com

Here are some additional readings I did relating to this topic

Why are video games so fun?

A short article by Wesley Yin-Poole on why we find video games so appealing, he goes into detail on the mental aspects, explaining how we into the foreign characteristics we inherit. while playing video games.

Using the MDA Framework as an approach to Game Design

An article by Jenny Carroll discussing the MDA Framework and how it can be utilized in our analysis of video games.

The Game Design Theory Behind Games

An article by "Marco" talking about the core aspects of the MDA framework, which he defines as the bridge between game development and game design.