Mechanics Analysis: Building Blocks

One of the key things that makes a game “a game” is that it uses mechanics.  A mechanic in soccer is to move the ball without using your hands.  A mechanic in go is to place a white or black stone on the board to represent your territory.  All games use mechanics, and how the mechanics interact with each other is one of the dynamics of the game.  Without mechanics, an RPG is just a book or people telling stories.  There’s no “game”.

Therefore, when you want to create a game, you have to think about the mechanics.  Not only that, but you have to think of how the mechanics interact with each other if you want to write games more complex than tic-tac-toe.  We’ll get to how mechanics interact with each other dynamically in another topic, but for right now, let’s start with the basics.

The key to a robust mechanic, even if it’s not necessarily good, starts with a question: “What do I want to accomplish?”