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Is there a similar list of more generic or common mechanics? I've always been curious if a list that contained things like "tiles-based", "roguelike", "rhythm

Is there a similar list of more generic or common mechanics? I've always been curious if a list that contained things like "tiles-based", "roguelike", "rhythm game" would yield interesting results if combined randomly.

mysterydip 3y ago
I think there's "game generators" like that out there, but I don't know any off the top of my head. Good idea, though!
cableshaft 3y ago
There was an attempt to create a taxonomy, basically, of board game mechanics. It was collected into the book "Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms". The book "Characteristics of Games" exists as well, that might have a good list in it. It's for all types of games, though, including sports. Richard Garfield (creator of Magic The Gathering) is one of the authors of that book. There's also Unpub: The Unpublished Card Game, which is a deck of cards that each has a theme, a core mechanism, and game component listed on each card, and you combine cards to pitch a board game design based on it. It's not still in print but you can get a copy cheap (I think I have one somewhere). https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175848/unpub-unpublished-card-game https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175848/unpub-unpublished... Also BoardGameGeek has a list of common board game mechanics here: https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgamemechanic https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgamemechanic Dice Tower did a live show on Youtube where they made a tournament bracket of 64 board game mechanisms and let the audience vote in real time for each match-up. So you can see what the most popular game mechanics are for board gamers from that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNE1BQ_PRe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNE1BQ_PRe0
woolion 3y ago
To complete cableshaft's great answer, there is Chris Crawford "on Game Design" that also has a lot of game ideas and particular game mechanics, a very interesting read.

mysterydip 3y ago

I think there's "game generators" like that out there, but I don't know any off the top of my head. Good idea, though!

cableshaft 3y ago

There was an attempt to create a taxonomy, basically, of board game mechanics. It was collected into the book "Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms". The book "Characteristics of Games" exists as well, that might have a good list in it. It's for all types of games, though, including sports. Richard Garfield (creator of Magic The Gathering) is one of the authors of that book. There's also Unpub: The Unpublished Card Game, which is a deck of cards that each has a theme, a core mechanism, and game component listed on each card, and you combine cards to pitch a board game design based on it. It's not still in print but you can get a copy cheap (I think I have one somewhere). https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175848/unpub-unpublished-card-game https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175848/unpub-unpublished... Also BoardGameGeek has a list of common board game mechanics here: https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgamemechanic https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgamemechanic Dice Tower did a live show on Youtube where they made a tournament bracket of 64 board game mechanisms and let the audience vote in real time for each match-up. So you can see what the most popular game mechanics are for board gamers from that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNE1BQ_PRe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNE1BQ_PRe0

woolion 3y ago

To complete cableshaft's great answer, there is Chris Crawford "on Game Design" that also has a lot of game ideas and particular game mechanics, a very interesting read.