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All 168 mechanics
Every mechanic in the ontology, grouped into 15 families. Each has one credited origin game and a traceable chain of ancestors reaching back to 1962.
Space & Locomotion 23Camera & Input 13Combat & Conflict 16Physics & Simulation 10Progression & Persistence 17Procedural Generation 5World Systems 10Stealth & Perception 7Narrative 14Interface & Meta 10Multiplayer & Social 17Strategy & Tactics 5Rhythm & Audio 5Creation & Modding 5Economy & Business Model 11
Space & Locomotion
Twenty-three ideas about where the player is permitted to be, running from a single frame of Pong to a planet you can descend to without a loading screen.
Space & Locomotion · 1962
Object Collision As Verb
Object collision is the rule that two things touching in a game's coordinate space causes an event, the primitive unde…
Origin: Spacewar!
Space & Locomotion · 1972
Single-Screen Arena
A single-screen arena keeps the entire playable world inside one unscrolling frame, so every object on display is in p…
Origin: Pong
Space & Locomotion · 1979
Wraparound Topology
Wraparound topology joins opposite edges of the playfield so that leaving one side returns you at the other, turning a…
Origin: Asteroids
Space & Locomotion · 1980
Continuous Scrolling Playfield
A continuous scrolling playfield lets the camera move independently of the world, so a level extends past the edges of…
Origin: Defender
Space & Locomotion · 1980
First-Person Vector Space
First-person vector space places the camera at eye level inside the world and draws that world as wireframe lines, giv…
Origin: Battlezone
Space & Locomotion · 1980
Flip-Screen Room Graph
Flip-screen room graphs build a world from discrete single-screen rooms joined by exits, so moving between spaces is a…
Origin: Adventure
Space & Locomotion · 1982
Isometric Projection
Isometric projection draws a world at a fixed oblique angle so that height, width and depth are all visible at once, w…
Origin: Zaxxon
Space & Locomotion · 1982
Parallax Depth Layers
Parallax depth layers scroll background planes more slowly than the foreground, producing a convincing impression of d…
Origin: Moon Patrol
Space & Locomotion · 1982
Sprite-Scaling Pseudo-3D
Sprite-scaling pseudo-3D enlarges and repositions flat images as they approach the viewer, producing convincing forwar…
Origin: Pole Position
Space & Locomotion · 1985
Momentum-Based Platform Control
Momentum-based platform control gives an avatar acceleration, skidding and a jump whose height depends on how long the…
Origin: Super Mario Bros.
Space & Locomotion · 1986
Ability-Gated Interlocked Map
An ability-gated interlocked map is one continuous world whose closed routes open only when the player gains a new cap…
Origin: Metroid
Space & Locomotion · 1990
Rotating Ground Plane
A rotating ground plane is a single texture-mapped floor that hardware can scale and spin one scanline at a time, lett…
Origin: F-Zero
Space & Locomotion · 1992
Raycast Corridor 3D
Raycast corridor 3D draws a first-person view by casting one ray per screen column into a flat grid of walls, producin…
Origin: Wolfenstein 3D
Space & Locomotion · 1996
Analog Free-Roam 3D Movement
Analog free-roam 3D movement lets a third-person character run in any direction at any speed through an open volume, w…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Space & Locomotion · 1996
Hub-and-Spoke World Access
A hub-and-spoke world is a central space connecting outward to self-contained levels, letting players choose what to a…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Space & Locomotion · 1996
True Polygonal Free-Look Space
True polygonal free-look space renders a world of arbitrary geometry with a camera free to rotate on every axis, so ro…
Origin: Quake
Space & Locomotion · 2001
Seamless Streaming Open World
A seamless streaming open world loads and unloads pieces of a continuous map as the player moves, so a large place can…
Origin: Grand Theft Auto III
Space & Locomotion · 2004
Grapple & Tether Traversal
Grapple and tether traversal attaches the player to a point in the world and converts the resulting swing or pull into…
Origin: Spider-Man 2
Space & Locomotion · 2007
Non-Euclidean Portal Space
Non-Euclidean portal space lets a player join two distant surfaces so that walking or falling into one emerges from th…
Origin: Portal
Space & Locomotion · 2007
Systemic Climbable Surfaces
Systemic climbable surfaces annotate a world's architecture with handholds and ledges that one animation set can read,…
Origin: Assassin's Creed
Space & Locomotion · 2008
First-Person Parkour Flow
First-person parkour flow makes running, vaulting and wall-running the central verbs of a game seen from inside the bo…
Origin: Mirror's Edge
Space & Locomotion · 2016
Planetary-Scale Streaming
Planetary-scale streaming keeps one continuous simulation from ground level to orbit to interstellar space, generating…
Origin: No Man's Sky
Space & Locomotion · 2017
Climb-Anything Stamina Traversal
Climb-anything stamina traversal makes nearly every surface in a world scalable and limits ascent only with a draining…
Origin: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Camera & Input
Where the eye sits and how intent reaches the character — the two problems the medium solved late, solved badly, and has never stopped revising.
Camera & Input · 1996
Fixed Cinematic Camera
Fixed cinematic cameras place a 3D scene under pre-authored viewpoints that cut as the player moves, giving a designer…
Origin: Resident Evil
Camera & Input · 1996
Graded Analog Input
Graded analog input reads how far a stick is pushed rather than whether a direction is pressed, so speed, angle and pr…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Camera & Input · 1996
Trailing Follow Camera
A trailing follow camera is a viewpoint that chases the player character with its own physics, collision and framing r…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Camera & Input · 1997
Haptic Force Feedback
Haptic force feedback sends information through the controller as vibration or resistance, giving games a channel that…
Origin: Star Fox 64
Camera & Input · 1997
Photo Mode
Photo mode hands the player a free camera, a pause button and a set of lens controls, turning a running game into a su…
Origin: Gran Turismo
Camera & Input · 1998
Contextual Lock-On Targeting
Contextual lock-on targeting binds the camera and the character to a chosen enemy, keeping both facing each other so t…
Origin: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Camera & Input · 1998
Directed In-Engine Camera Language
Directed in-engine camera language applies film grammar, cuts, dollies and deliberate framing, to a running game engin…
Origin: Metal Gear Solid
Camera & Input · 1998
Iron-Sight Aim-Down-Sights
Aiming down sights is a second firing mode that raises the weapon to eye level, trading movement speed and peripheral …
Origin: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Camera & Input · 2000
Dual-Analog Move + Look
Dual-analog control assigns movement to the left stick and camera aim to the right, the scheme that now underlies almo…
Origin: Alien Resurrection
Camera & Input · 2003
Over-the-Shoulder Aim
Over-the-shoulder aim pins the camera close behind a character's shoulder and puts the crosshair in the world, combini…
Origin: kill.switch
Camera & Input · 2005
Direct Touch Manipulation
Direct touch manipulation removes the cursor and the avatar and lets a finger act on the screen itself, so the interfa…
Origin: Nintendogs
Camera & Input · 2006
Spatial Motion Input
Spatial motion input measures how a controller moves through the room and uses that as the control signal, so swinging…
Origin: Wii Sports
Camera & Input · 2020
Room-Scale VR Presence
Room-scale VR presence tracks a player's head and hands in physical space, making the camera an extension of the neck …
Origin: Half-Life: Alyx
Combat & Conflict
Grammar for hitting, blocking, aiming, and dying: sixteen mechanics arguing about what one exchange should cost the player, in time, resources, and nerve.
Combat & Conflict · 1980
Hit Points
Hit points express a character's remaining capacity to absorb damage as a depleting number, so a blow reduces a pool i…
Origin: Rogue
Combat & Conflict · 1990
Weapon Durability Decay
Weapon durability decay makes equipment wear out with use, so tools become consumables on a budget rather than permane…
Origin: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Combat & Conflict · 1991
Chained Combo Strings
Chained combo strings are attack sequences timed so each hit lands while the opponent is still reeling from the last, …
Origin: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Combat & Conflict · 1993
Cancels and Super Meter
Cancels and a super meter let a player interrupt one move's animation with another and bank a resource earned through …
Origin: Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Combat & Conflict · 1997
Directional Attack and Block
Directional attack and block give strikes and guards a spatial orientation, so an overhead cut has to be met with a hi…
Origin: Bushido Blade
Combat & Conflict · 1997
Parry and Riposte Window
A parry and riposte window rewards deflecting an incoming attack within a few frames, converting a successful defence …
Origin: Street Fighter III: New Generation
Combat & Conflict · 1999
Ability Cooldown Economy
An ability cooldown economy gates powers by time rather than by a resource pool, so each skill returns after a fixed w…
Origin: EverQuest
Combat & Conflict · 1999
Learnable Recoil Patterns
Learnable recoil patterns make a weapon's spray deterministic, so a held trigger climbs and drifts the same way every …
Origin: Counter-Strike
Combat & Conflict · 2001
Constrained Weapon Loadout
A constrained weapon loadout limits the player to carrying two guns at once, so every pickup is a decision about what …
Origin: Halo: Combat Evolved
Combat & Conflict · 2001
Player-Controlled Bullet Time
Player-controlled bullet time slows the game clock on demand while leaving aiming at full speed, letting the player sp…
Origin: Max Payne
Combat & Conflict · 2001
Regenerating Health
Regenerating health restores a player's damage capacity automatically after a short period without being hit, replacin…
Origin: Halo: Combat Evolved
Combat & Conflict · 2003
Snap-to-Cover Combat
A snap-to-cover system lets the player attach to walls and low barriers with a button, sliding along protection and fi…
Origin: kill.switch
Combat & Conflict · 2006
Contextual Execution
A contextual execution is a scripted close-range kill triggered against a weakened or unaware enemy, trading a moment …
Origin: Gears of War
Combat & Conflict · 2009
Poise and Stagger Break
Poise and stagger break give characters a second, hidden bar that absorbs the impact of blows, and emptying it leaves …
Origin: Demon's Souls
Combat & Conflict · 2009
Stamina Action Economy
A stamina action economy draws every attack, dodge, sprint and block from one shared bar that refills slowly, so commi…
Origin: Demon's Souls
Combat & Conflict · 2019
Deflect-Focused Posture Combat
Deflect-focused posture combat replaces dodging with well-timed deflection, filling an opponent's posture bar until th…
Origin: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Physics & Simulation
Ten mechanics from the moment a world stops being scripted and starts obeying rules, with all the emergence and all the breakage that implies.
Physics & Simulation · 1982
Flight Simulation
Flight simulation models aerodynamics, instruments and navigation for their own sake, offering no score and no enemy, …
Origin: Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0
Physics & Simulation · 1997
High-Fidelity Vehicle Physics
High-fidelity vehicle physics model tyre grip, weight transfer and drivetrain behaviour closely enough that driving be…
Origin: Gran Turismo
Physics & Simulation · 1998
Ragdoll Physics
Ragdoll physics simulate a body as jointed rigid parts once it loses control, so falls and deaths are computed from mo…
Origin: Jurassic Park: Trespasser
Physics & Simulation · 2001
Destructible Geometry
Destructible geometry lets players remove or collapse parts of a level's structure during play, so walls, floors and c…
Origin: Red Faction
Physics & Simulation · 2004
Physics Manipulation Tool
A physics manipulation tool is an in-game device that lets the player grab, hold and launch simulated objects directly…
Origin: Half-Life 2
Physics & Simulation · 2004
Rigid-Body Puzzle Physics
Rigid-body puzzle physics turn mass, buoyancy and leverage into the vocabulary of a puzzle, so solutions get built by …
Origin: Half-Life 2
Physics & Simulation · 2008
Propagating Fire and Fluids
Propagating fire and fluids spread through a world according to wind, fuel and terrain, producing hazards that keep de…
Origin: Far Cry 2
Physics & Simulation · 2009
Editable Voxel Terrain
Editable voxel terrain models the world as a uniform grid of blocks that can each be removed or placed, making landsca…
Origin: Minecraft
Physics & Simulation · 2013
Soft-Body Deformation
Soft-body deformation simulates a structure as a flexible network of connected nodes, so an object bends, crumples and…
Origin: BeamNG.drive
Physics & Simulation · 2017
Systemic Elemental Chemistry
Systemic elemental chemistry defines global rules for how fire, water, wind, metal and electricity interact, so any co…
Origin: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Progression & Persistence
What a game remembers about you between deaths and sessions, from three initials in Asteroids to a battle pass that expires on a schedule.
Progression & Persistence · 1972
Numeric Score
A numeric score is a running total the game keeps on the player's behalf, the earliest form of memory in the medium an…
Origin: Pong
Progression & Persistence · 1978
Lives and Continues
Lives and continues turn failure into a budget: a player is given a fixed number of attempts, and running out ends the…
Origin: Space Invaders
Progression & Persistence · 1979
Persistent High-Score Table
A persistent high-score table stores the best results and the initials of whoever set them, creating the first player …
Origin: Asteroids
Progression & Persistence · 1980
Experience Points and Levels
Experience points and levels convert repeated actions into permanent capability, giving a character a number that rise…
Origin: Rogue
Progression & Persistence · 1980
Permadeath Run Structure
Permadeath means a run ends for good when the character dies, with the save file erased, so every decision carries con…
Origin: Rogue
Progression & Persistence · 1981
Character Classes
Character classes bundle abilities, restrictions and a role into a single early choice, trading a character's breadth …
Origin: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Progression & Persistence · 1984
Checkpoint Respawn
Checkpoint respawn returns a failed player to a marked point inside the level rather than to the beginning, making fai…
Origin: Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
Progression & Persistence · 1986
Battery-Backed Save File
Battery-backed saving puts a small amount of powered memory inside the cartridge so a game can record its own state, a…
Origin: The Legend of Zelda
Progression & Persistence · 1986
Password Continuation
Password continuation encodes a player's progress as a string of characters they write down, letting a game remember i…
Origin: Metroid
Progression & Persistence · 1995
New Game Plus
New Game Plus restarts a completed game while carrying the player's accumulated power forward, so a second run becomes…
Origin: Chrono Trigger
Progression & Persistence · 1996
Branching Skill Tree
A branching skill tree spends earned points on a diagram of connected abilities, where reaching a powerful option mean…
Origin: Diablo
Progression & Persistence · 1996
Colour-Coded Loot Rarity
Colour-coded loot rarity assigns each item a colour that signals its tier at a glance, turning evaluation into an inst…
Origin: Diablo
Progression & Persistence · 2004
Numeric Gear Power Treadmill
A numeric gear power treadmill reduces equipment to one ascending number, letting a game gate content by that figure a…
Origin: World of Warcraft
Progression & Persistence · 2007
Perk-Based Loadout Customization
Perk-based loadouts let players assemble their own class from unlocked weapons and modifiers before a match, replacing…
Origin: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Progression & Persistence · 2007
Prestige Reset-for-Status
Prestige lets a player who has reached the maximum rank reset all their progress in exchange for a symbol, converting …
Origin: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Progression & Persistence · 2011
Bonfire Checkpoint & Currency Risk
Bonfire checkpoints restore supplies and respawn every enemy when used, while death drops the player's accumulated cur…
Origin: Dark Souls
Progression & Persistence · 2013
Run-Persistent Meta-Progression
Run-persistent meta-progression lets a failed run leave something permanent behind, so a roguelike's deletion of the c…
Origin: Rogue Legacy
Procedural Generation
Content authored by algorithm rather than by hand: five mechanics that establish scale can be computed rather than stored, and that stories can be outputs.
Procedural Generation · 1980
Procedurally Generated Levels
Procedurally generated levels build their layout at runtime from rules and a random seed, so the arrangement of rooms,…
Origin: Rogue
Procedural Generation · 1984
Seeded Procedural Universe
A seeded procedural universe stores no world at all, deriving planets, names, economies and positions from one startin…
Origin: Elite
Procedural Generation · 1996
Procedural Loot Tables
Procedural loot tables assemble items as they drop, combining a base type with randomly rolled modifiers, so two weapo…
Origin: Diablo
Procedural Generation · 2006
Emergent Generated History
Emergent generated history simulates centuries of a world's events before play begins, producing named civilisations, …
Origin: Dwarf Fortress
Procedural Generation · 2009
Infinite Chunked World
An infinite chunked world generates terrain in fixed blocks as the player approaches, loading and unloading them conti…
Origin: Minecraft
World Systems
Time, weather, ecology, and characters who keep their own schedules — the systems that make a world seem to exist when the player is not looking.
World Systems · 1980
Survival Needs Clock
A survival needs clock drains hunger, thirst or warmth over time, so standing still is itself a losing move and the pl…
Origin: Rogue
World Systems · 1983
Day/Night Cycle
A day and night cycle advances a world clock independently of the player, changing light, behaviour and available acti…
Origin: Ultima III: Exodus
World Systems · 1992
NPC Daily Schedules
NPC daily schedules give characters routines of sleeping, working and eating tied to the world clock, so a town behave…
Origin: Ultima VII: The Black Gate
World Systems · 1997
Crafting From Gathered Materials
Crafting from gathered materials lets players convert raw inputs collected in the world into finished equipment and go…
Origin: Ultima Online
World Systems · 1999
Dynamic Weather
Dynamic weather changes conditions in a game world on its own schedule, sometimes driven by a forecast model, so rain,…
Origin: Shenmue
World Systems · 2006
Radiant / Generated Activity
Radiant or generated activity has the game assemble its own minor content, filling a world with quests, encounters and…
Origin: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
World Systems · 2008
Dynamic AI Director
A dynamic AI director watches how a session is going and spawns enemies, items and quiet stretches accordingly, shapin…
Origin: Left 4 Dead
World Systems · 2009
Free-Form Base Building
Free-form base building lets players raise permanent structures of their own design inside the play space, turning a l…
Origin: Minecraft
World Systems · 2014
Procedural Nemesis Hierarchy
A procedural nemesis hierarchy generates individual enemy commanders who remember past encounters, gain rank when they…
Origin: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
World Systems · 2018
Simulated Ecology
Simulated ecology gives animals and townspeople territory, routine and memory, so wildlife hunts, migrates and avoids …
Origin: Red Dead Redemption 2
Stealth & Perception
Enemies that can fail to notice you, and the systems that model failure to notice — seven mechanics that made AI ignorance into a design surface.
Stealth & Perception · 1981
Line-of-Sight Detection
Line-of-sight detection gives enemies a limited field of view, so they can fail to notice a player, and the game start…
Origin: Castle Wolfenstein
Stealth & Perception · 1992
Systemic Solution Space
Systemic solution spaces build a game from consistent interacting rules rather than authored answers, so problems can …
Origin: Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Stealth & Perception · 1998
Diegetic 3D Audio Information
Diegetic three-dimensional audio carries real tactical information, using footstep material, distance, direction and o…
Origin: Thief: The Dark Project
Stealth & Perception · 1998
Explicit Detection Feedback
Explicit detection feedback shows players what enemies currently perceive, using meters, icons, vision cones or sound …
Origin: Metal Gear Solid
Stealth & Perception · 1998
Graduated Alert States
Graduated alert states move enemies through named stages of awareness, from unaware to suspicious, alerted and searchi…
Origin: Metal Gear Solid
Stealth & Perception · 1998
Light-and-Shadow Stealth
Light-and-shadow stealth measures illumination and sound as concrete quantities, so standing in darkness or moving acr…
Origin: Thief: The Dark Project
Stealth & Perception · 2007
Social / Crowd Stealth
Social stealth hides the player through behaviour rather than geometry, using crowds, disguises and unremarkable condu…
Origin: Assassin's Creed
Narrative
How fiction is delivered and how much of it the player authors, from Pac-Man's wordless interludes to a story whose subject is your own compliance.
Narrative · 1980
Attract-Mode Premise
Attract-mode premise uses short non-interactive vignettes between rounds to establish character and situation, the fir…
Origin: Pac-Man
Narrative · 1983
Quick-Time Event
A quick-time event asks for a specific input at a specific moment during an otherwise non-interactive sequence, reduci…
Origin: Dragon's Lair
Narrative · 1984
In-Engine Cutscene
An in-engine cutscene takes control away and uses the game's own graphics to stage a scene, so story and play share on…
Origin: Karateka
Narrative · 1985
Branching Dialogue Trees
Branching dialogue trees present conversation as a set of chosen replies, each one opening or closing later options, t…
Origin: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Narrative · 1985
Explicit Morality Axis
An explicit morality axis scores the player's behaviour on a visible ethical scale, then uses that number to unlock po…
Origin: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Narrative · 1992
Full-Motion Video
Full-motion video builds a game out of filmed actors stored on optical media, with the player choosing which pre-recor…
Origin: Night Trap
Narrative · 1994
Environmental Storytelling
Environmental storytelling places narrative information in the arrangement of a space itself, so that players learn wh…
Origin: System Shock
Narrative · 1994
Found Audio Log
The found audio log is a recorded message left by an absent character, picked up as an item and played while the playe…
Origin: System Shock
Narrative · 1994
Full Voice Performance
Full voice performance means every line of dialogue in a game is recorded by an actor rather than displayed as text, m…
Origin: Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger
Narrative · 1997
Faction Reputation
Faction reputation tracks standing with each group in the world separately, so helping one side costs you with another…
Origin: Fallout
Narrative · 2000
Companion Approval
Companion approval gives each party member a private opinion of the player that rises and falls with choices, gating c…
Origin: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Narrative · 2003
Consequential Branching Endgame
A consequential branching endgame reshapes the final act of a game according to choices accumulated across the whole p…
Origin: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Narrative · 2007
Cinematic Dialogue Wheel
A cinematic dialogue wheel replaces written reply options with short paraphrases arranged radially by tone, letting th…
Origin: Mass Effect
Narrative · 2007
Player-Agency Narrative Twist
A player-agency narrative twist turns the story onto the player's own obedience, revealing that doing as you were told…
Origin: BioShock
Interface & Meta
Maps, markers, journals, and difficulty menus — ten mechanics negotiating how much a game should tell you before play stops being yours.
Interface & Meta · 1992
Fog of War
Fog of war hides any part of a map that no friendly unit can currently see, making information a contested resource an…
Origin: Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
Interface & Meta · 1993
In-Game Automap
An in-game automap draws the level as the player walks it, converting movement into a persistent overhead diagram of r…
Origin: Doom
Interface & Meta · 1993
Selectable Difficulty
Selectable difficulty asks players, before they begin, how hard the game should be, then adjusts enemy damage, enemy c…
Origin: Doom
Interface & Meta · 1996
Spatial Inventory Grid
A spatial inventory grid gives every item a shape and footprint in a fixed rectangle of cells, so carrying capacity be…
Origin: Diablo
Interface & Meta · 1998
Quest Journal
A quest journal records what characters have told the player, tracking objectives, leads and completion states so seve…
Origin: Baldur's Gate
Interface & Meta · 2001
Persistent Minimap / Radar
A persistent minimap or radar keeps a small live diagram of nearby space and contacts on screen at all times, so orien…
Origin: Halo: Combat Evolved
Interface & Meta · 2001
Waypoint Objective Marker
Waypoint objective markers place a persistent icon on the map, compass or world showing exactly where the current obje…
Origin: Grand Theft Auto III
Interface & Meta · 2005
Platform Achievements
Platform achievements attach an account-wide record of in-game accomplishments to a player profile, awarding badges an…
Origin: Perfect Dark Zero
Interface & Meta · 2008
Diegetic HUD-less Interface
Diegetic interfaces delete the overlay and place health, ammunition and inventory on objects inside the fiction, so in…
Origin: Dead Space
Interface & Meta · 2020
Comprehensive Accessibility Suite
Comprehensive accessibility suites bundle dozens of independent options, from full remapping and audio navigation cues…
Origin: The Last of Us Part II
Multiplayer & Social
Other humans, from two people at one cabinet in 1972 to a hundred strangers matched by rating and a ping system that replaces speech.
Multiplayer & Social · 1972
Same-Screen Two-Player
Same-screen two-player puts two people at one display with their own controls, so both see identical information and e…
Origin: Pong
Multiplayer & Social · 1984
Split-Screen Simultaneous
Split-screen play divides one display into separate viewports, so players sharing a room can occupy different parts of…
Origin: Spy vs Spy
Multiplayer & Social · 1993
Networked Deathmatch
Networked deathmatch connects several machines over a local network so players fight each other inside the same simula…
Origin: Doom
Multiplayer & Social · 1996
Internet Client-Server Play
Internet client-server play puts one authoritative server in charge of game state while clients predict their own acti…
Origin: Quake
Multiplayer & Social · 1997
Persistent Shared World
A persistent shared world runs continuously on servers whether or not any particular player is present, so thousands o…
Origin: Ultima Online
Multiplayer & Social · 1997
Player Guilds and Clans
Player guilds and clans are formal in-game organisations with names, membership rolls and ranks, letting groups of pla…
Origin: Ultima Online
Multiplayer & Social · 1999
Coordinated Raid Encounters
Coordinated raid encounters are large scripted fights that require dozens of players to execute assigned roles in sequ…
Origin: EverQuest
Multiplayer & Social · 2001
Drop-In Co-op Campaign
A drop-in co-op campaign lets a second player join the main story mode at any point without ceremony, playing the same…
Origin: Halo: Combat Evolved
Multiplayer & Social · 2003
Lane-Push Objective Structure
Lane-push structure organises a mirrored map into fixed paths where automated unit waves advance under tower cover, an…
Origin: Defense of the Ancients
Multiplayer & Social · 2004
Automated Skill Matchmaking
Automated skill matchmaking assembles balanced matches from a queue, sorting players by rating, party and chosen playl…
Origin: Halo 2
Multiplayer & Social · 2007
Persistent Multiplayer Progression
Persistent multiplayer progression awards experience for every match played rather than only for wins, unlocking weapo…
Origin: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Multiplayer & Social · 2009
Asynchronous Invasion & Messages
Asynchronous invasion and messaging lets players leave written signs, replay ghosts and death marks in each other's wo…
Origin: Demon's Souls
Multiplayer & Social · 2016
Asymmetric Multiplayer Roles
Asymmetric multiplayer gives opposing sides different rules, abilities, goals and sometimes cameras, so balance is neg…
Origin: Dead by Daylight
Multiplayer & Social · 2017
Extraction Risk/Reward Loop
Extraction loops let players carry their own equipment into a hostile map where every gain and loss is permanent, and …
Origin: Escape from Tarkov
Multiplayer & Social · 2017
Shrinking-Circle Battle Royale
Shrinking-circle battle royale drops many players into one map without equipment and forces them together using a boun…
Origin: PUBG: Battlegrounds
Multiplayer & Social · 2018
Cross-Platform Play
Cross-platform play allows people on consoles, computers and phones to share matches and friend lists, breaking the co…
Origin: Fortnite Battle Royale
Multiplayer & Social · 2019
Non-Verbal Ping Communication
Non-verbal ping communication turns one context-sensitive button into a grammar for marking loot, enemies, places and …
Origin: Apex Legends
Strategy & Tactics
Commanding many things at once, in turns or in real time — five mechanics about whether difficulty should live in the decision or in the execution.
Strategy & Tactics · 1990
Turn-Based Grid Tactics
Turn-based grid tactics play out on squares, each side moving a roster of individual units in sequence, with those uni…
Origin: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Strategy & Tactics · 1991
Turn-Based 4X Empire
Turn-based 4X games ask players to explore, expand, exploit and exterminate across a map and a timeline, growing a civ…
Origin: Sid Meier's Civilization
Strategy & Tactics · 1992
Real-Time Base and Unit Production
Real-time base building has players harvest resources, raise production buildings and field armies under continuous ti…
Origin: Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
Strategy & Tactics · 2003
Tower Defense Lane Denial
Tower defense has players place static defences along a fixed route while waves of enemies walk it, turning strategy i…
Origin: Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Strategy & Tactics · 2017
Deck-Building Run Progression
Deck-building run progression makes the deck itself the character, assembled from cards offered during a single run an…
Origin: Slay the Spire
Rhythm & Audio
Sound as a mechanic rather than a garnish: five entries on music that reacts to the player and players who must react to music.
Rhythm & Audio · 1991
Adaptive Dynamic Music
Adaptive dynamic music follows the player, transitioning between arrangements on musical boundaries so a score can cha…
Origin: Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Rhythm & Audio · 1996
Beat-Matched Input
Beat-matched input judges the player against a musical grid, scoring each press by how closely it lands on the beat ra…
Origin: PaRappa the Rapper
Rhythm & Audio · 1998
Scrolling Note Highway
A scrolling note highway renders upcoming inputs as objects travelling toward a fixed judgement line, turning a musica…
Origin: GuitarFreaks
Rhythm & Audio · 2005
Instrument Peripheral
Instrument peripherals replace the controller with a physical object shaped like the thing being played, so posture, g…
Origin: Guitar Hero
Rhythm & Audio · 2015
Rhythm-Locked Action
Rhythm-locked action requires every move and attack to land on the beat, fusing a music game's timing discipline with …
Origin: Crypt of the NecroDancer
Creation & Modding
Handing the authoring tools to the player: five mechanics that turn an audience into a labour force, a talent pipeline, and eventually a marketplace.
Creation & Modding · 1983
Bundled Level Editor
A bundled level editor ships the authoring tool inside the game itself, letting players build, save and share their ow…
Origin: Lode Runner
Creation & Modding · 1993
Open Data Formats and Mod SDK
Open data formats and modding kits let players replace a game's levels, art and rules without its source code, treatin…
Origin: Doom
Creation & Modding · 2006
User-Content Marketplace
A user-content marketplace lets players build, publish and sell inside the platform itself, with the operator providin…
Origin: Roblox
Creation & Modding · 2007
Replay Capture and Sharing
Replay capture records a match as game data rather than video, letting players rewatch it from any camera angle, pause…
Origin: Halo 3
Creation & Modding · 2008
In-Game Creation Suite
In-game creation suites place the authoring tools inside the game world itself, so players build levels and objects wi…
Origin: LittleBigPlanet
Economy & Business Model
How a game asks to be paid and what that request does to its design, from the quarter slot to a calendar of expiring content.
Economy & Business Model · 1978
Coin-Op Difficulty Economy
Coin-op difficulty economies tune a game's challenge curve to the length of a paid session, ending most attempts withi…
Origin: Space Invaders
Economy & Business Model · 1990
Retail Expansion Pack
Retail expansion packs sell extra campaigns, missions or systems for a game already owned, requiring the original to r…
Origin: Wing Commander: The Secret Missions
Economy & Business Model · 2003
Free-to-Play Service Model
Free-to-play removes the purchase price entirely and earns revenue after entry, through item sales, convenience upgrad…
Origin: MapleStory
Economy & Business Model · 2006
Downloadable Content
Downloadable content delivers post-release additions over the network at any size, from a full campaign to a single co…
Origin: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Economy & Business Model · 2009
Cosmetic-Only Monetization
Cosmetic-only monetisation restricts everything sold to appearance, keeping competitive power out of the store, so spe…
Origin: League of Legends
Economy & Business Model · 2009
Paid Early Access Development
Paid early access sells an unfinished game to players who fund and test it, with development continuing in public and …
Origin: Minecraft
Economy & Business Model · 2010
Randomized Loot Box
Randomised loot boxes sell a sealed container whose contents are drawn from a weighted table, so the purchase buys a c…
Origin: Team Fortress 2
Economy & Business Model · 2011
Season Pass Bundle
A season pass sells future downloadable content before it exists, bundling an unspecified schedule of additions into o…
Origin: L.A. Noire
Economy & Business Model · 2012
Mobile Free-to-Play
Mobile free-to-play designs around short, interruptible sessions, using energy timers, level maps and in-app purchases…
Origin: Candy Crush Saga
Economy & Business Model · 2013
Seasonal Battle Pass
A seasonal battle pass sells a fixed progression track for a limited period, releasing known cosmetic rewards as the b…
Origin: Dota 2
Economy & Business Model · 2014
Live-Service Seasonal Content
Live-service seasonal content organises a game as a calendar, with story, activities, rewards and economy arriving in …
Origin: Destiny