Deconstructing Game Mechanics

Designers need to understand the underlying mechanics that drive the fun and action in games they love. Use these practical steps to explore game mechanics in action...

In this Lesson:

Inspo Activity - deconstruct a familiar mechanics

• Encourage students to explore game mechanics through a familiar game classic
• Invite students to share favorite ideas aloud

Combine - unify game mechanics and themes

• Find out what questions to ask to know if games are fun
• Encourage students to pair up and explore familiar games to practice playtesting for fun

STEP 1

DECONSTRUCTING RULES

Let’s explore the core mechanics of a game like Candyland...you can mimic these rules or recombine in your own way

Use the following examples to explore:

• Racing in a board game is usually across a path with winner finishing first. Draw a path for players to find their way to the finish!
• Turn taking is a common mechanic in multiplayer games. In Candyland, players use meeples to represent each player
• Card drafting is a game mechanic used in turn taking games to advance gameplay each round by selecting cards from a pool.

STEP 2

RECONSTRUCTING RULES

ASK: How might we recombine these mechanics into a different game concept?

ACTIVITY: In pairs, invite students to ideate new concepts by describing ways to recombine mechanics explored above. Write down rules and how mechanics are used. Describe core gameplay.

SHARE: Regroup together and share out ideas and concepts of recombined mechanics. Ask each to 1) describe core game concept and 2) how they are using each mechanic

GOT MORE TIME?

INVITE STUDENTS TO BEGIN PROTOTYPING GAME CONCEPTS WITH PAPER, PENS, STICKERS AND SMALL OBJECTS