Library of Game Mechanics v0.9
‘Game mechanics’ is one of the fuzzy terms in game design and studies discourses. As I have chosen to define them, game mechanics are the actions given to the players that give them means to reach for the goals in a game. This is a narrow definition, as the term seems to be commonly used to refer to the whole behaviour of a game system - something I have chosen (following the MDA framework) to call game dynamics.
From this perspective, Game mechanics can be conceptualised as verbs: Throwing in Basketball, Hitting in Tennis, Placing Dominoes, Driving in Gran Turismo, Guessing in Lottery games, etc.
The above examples highlight particular (yet common) implementations of game mechanics. However, I have sough to identify more general categories of game mechanics in order to be able to group similar actions across games. This is what the library of game mechanics is about: it defines the categories I have identified in my research.
The library is meant to be used as a design and analysis tool: in identifying mechanics from a game under analysis, or in trying to design mechanics for specific kind of player experiences where the aim is, e.g., to support certain moods and emotions.
The categories are listed in the following:
Accelerating / Decelerating • Aiming & Shooting • Allocating • Arranging • Attacking / Defending • Bidding • Browsing • Building • Buying / Selling • Catching • Choosing • Composing • Conquering • Contracting • Controlling • Conversing • Discarding • Enclosing • Expressing • Herding • Information-seeking • Jumping • Manoeuvring • Motion • Moving • Operating • Performing • Placing • Point-to-point Movement • Powering • Sequencing • Sprinting / Slowing • Storytelling • Submitting • Substituting • Taking • Trading • Transforming • Upgrading / Downgrading • Voting