Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago

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Dr. Ben discusses MDA in TTRPGS. Full Lecture (Episode #117).
#dnd #pathfinder #ttrpg #wfrp

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Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:49 Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics (MDA) in Tabletop RPGs
04:03 Mechanics
05:10 Dynamics
07:02 Aesthetics
18:29 Designers vs. Players: Two Perspectives on MDA
24:29 MDA in Action: Examples from Different RPGs
42:48 Using MDA for Design, Critique, and Tuning
50:54 Thoughts
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Music and Sounds:
epidemicsound.com/track/Erdns8jA3D
epidemicsound.com/track/MRyCi54t7M
epidemicsound.com/track/AQBpWzOsID
epidemicsound.com/track/yCvSWOBYUe
Music: creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0
epidemicsound.com/track/c0X3Z8H8uZ
epidemicsound.com/track/yCvSWOBYUe
Music: creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0
epidemicsound.com/track/bWHPOsoaql
epidemicsound.com/track/uDAHxg3lIS
epidemicsound.com/track/e3mQvva1kZ
epidemicsound.com/track/e3mQvva1kZ
epidemicsound.com/track/e3mQvva1kZ
epidemicsound.com/track/2dLRmfzdA5
epidemicsound.com/track/jrNZjxJQqZ
epidemicsound.com/track/c0X3Z8H8uZ
epidemicsound.com/sound-effects/tracks/8c51eca6-dbb5-4925-b4ec-7ee51630322e

Works Cited
Hunicke, Robin, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek. MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research. Proceedings of the Challenges in Game AI Workshop, AAAI-04, 2004.​

Aboleth Overlords. “MDA for Tabletop Adventure Games.”

The Angry GM. “Gaming for Fun (Part 1): Eight Kinds of Fun.”