Game Mechanics Design

• At their core, games should be unpredictable for them to be engaging. This can be achieved either using randomness, using the dynamic nature of player choice, or through complex gameplay via its mechanics.
• The mechanics of a game pertain not just to the formal systems underlying it, but the mechanisms by which the game operates — in other words, the specifics of how to code it.
  • A core mechanic in this context means a mechanic that underlies a vast majority of the game’s systems in some way
  • The mechanics of a game can be implemented through many different media. Hence, if it can be done on paper, do so.
  • There are five kinds of mechanics
    • Physics - the science of motion, temporality, and force in the game world.
    • Internal Economy - The mechanics of transactions involving game elements (both concrete and abstract resources) that are collected, consumed, and traded.
    • Progression Mechanisms - the mechanisms involved in level design that indicate how a player will progress through the game
      • Example: Any new movement mechanic in a metroidvania.
    • Tactical Maneuvering - mechanics involving the placement of game units on a map for offensive or defensive advantages.
    • Social Interaction - the mechanisms that allow players to interact with one another
      • Example: Giving gifts.
  • Mechanics can also be discrete or continuous.

Game Mechanics. Image taken from Adamss and Dormans

• It is important to distinguish the structural differences between mechanics of progression and emergence. Games tend to have a mix of both.

Structure	Emergence	Progression
Number of Rules	Low	High
Number of Game Elements	High	Low
Interactions between Elements	High	Low
Possibility Space	Large and Wide	Small and Deep
Replay value	High	Low
Designer control of Game sequence	Low (due to emergence)	High (due to level design )
Length	Tends to be short	Tends to be long
Learning curve	Steep	Gentle

• Mechanics don’t have to be realistic, only consistent. Remember, all games have some form of recognizable patterns inside them and the mechanics should be one of these patterns

Mechanics §

Physics §

• Mechanics based on physics require understanding the underlying game engine’s physics simulation.
• They usually cannot be (conveniently) prototyped via a board game, especially if they operate on a continuous space.
• Once players grasp the physics of a game, they can intuitively predict movements and results, but with less certainty. Skill and dexterity become a more important aspect of the interaction
• However, physics also implicitly lends itself to discrete mechanics. In particular, by allowing the players to formulate a strategy that can be described without knowledge of the underlying physical computations.
• It is hard to innovate with physics mechanics.

Game Economy §

Mechanics of Emergence §

• Emergence allows designers to create games which offers more player opportunities.
• These make good use of the computer’s ability to do many processes.
• Games may have breadth (many possible choices) or depth (many possible outcomes as a result of subsequent actions).
• Even relatively simple mechanics gives many gameplay opportunities. The emergent properties arise from the mechanics interacting with each other.
  • These opportunities give rise to new player strategies.
• They have a high replay value because the challenges and possible actions that occur while playing are different every time
• Emergent gameplay mechanics should be a balance between ordered (progression) mechanics and randomness.
• The structural qualities of the game — the presence of feedback loops, interconnected parts, and differing scales of complexity, determine emergent gameplay.

Progression §

• A game of progression requires a large amount of data, prepared in advance by the designer, that the player can access at arbitrary points
• They offer many predesigned challenges that the designer has ordered sequentially via level design.
• These are suited for games that tell stories.
• They also allow the designers to arrange the levels in such a way a tutorial would meaningfully explain the mechanics of the game without overwhelming the player.
• One challenge is railroading where a player feels like they are guided through the game instead of making their own choices. Balancing between offering and restricting freedom is necessary
• They typically have many rules but they do not interact with each other as much.

Randomness §

• Randomness has an impact on the game’s balance.
• The impact of randomness is related to the distribution of random numbers created.
• Aim for random mechanics that operate frequently but have low impact. In the long run, the odds even out.
• Randomness can be a useful strategy
  • It can force players to improvise (assuming the playing field remains fair). The deciding factor becomes the ability to prepare and adapt.
  • It can counter dominant strategies.

Meaningful Mechanics §

• Remember that games are systems of meaning but also that games are interactive by nature. Ergo, a meaningful game is driven by meaningful mechanics

• Games can subtly deliver messages simply through their mechanics. In essence, as if telling a Narrative but through the mechanistic rules the game world operates in.

  • But crucially, games demand players take an active role in realizing these messages. Games do not teach directly; they teach through consequences.
  • There is a danger of the game being simplified as an optimization problem and its underlying message lost. Consider the demographic and the experience of the game as a whole.

• The mechanics affect how a game is experienced.

• Design mechanics around the most important aspect — the essential experience of the game

• As a game designer you should always be on the lookout to create systems where the number of meaningful combinations is large and possibly endless.

• (See the feedback for the second game) If the mechanics don’t feel meaningful (i.e., there feels like an optimal way to play), then one approach we can take is to reverse engineer. Ask — what would we like the player to do? How can we design the game to support that?

Links §

• Game Mechanics — Advanced Game Design by Adams and Dormans

  • Ch. 5-6 covers the Machination framework in detail.
  • Ch. 9 - covers an example of designing an internal economy.

• The Best and Most Stealable Mechanics from Tabletop RPGs by GDC

  • Video games can take inspiration from how TTRPGS are able to integrate gameplay and story.

• Games as Rules

• Lenses for the Game

• Models for Game Rules

• Game Balancing

• Tabletop Mechanics