Designing Games

Chapter 1. Engines of Experience

Mechanics and Events

Note

Games are composed of MECHANICS, which define how the game works.

A MECHANIC IS A rule about how a game works. The A button makes Mario jump is a mechanic. So are the rules characters walk at one meter per second, pawns capture diagonally, and players alternate taking turns.

In board games, mechanics are written in the rulebook. In video games, they’re implemented in computer code. But whether the mechanics are executed ritualistically by a player or electronically by a computer, they’re still mechanics because they define the game’s behavior.

Note

During play, mechanics and players interact to generate EVENTS.

An event is something that happens during play. Mario hits a wall and bounces back, the pawn captures the rook, and the ball went in the net, so the other team gets a point are events.

In nearly every other entertainment medium, events are authored directly. A screenwriter, novelist, or choreographer will decide every action, motion, and line of dialogue in the work. Their product is a long series of predefined events: first Luke meets Obi-Wan, then his parents die, then they hire Han Solo, and so on. And those events play out the exact same way every time.

Games are different. Instead of authoring events directly, we design mechanics. Those mechanics then generate events during play.

For example, while playing Super Mario Galaxy, I once tried to make Mario jump over a pit. I missed, and Mario touched lava. His backside burst ...