Building Your Game Mechanic Matters

Sometimes when starting a game, the game mechanics are considered at the very end of the process and we randomly pick ones from games we love.

That may end up in a mix of mechanics that are good by their own but not combined with others, which causes problems in the game overall, but in development we keep moving forward focusing on story and graphics.

Why mechanics are as important as graphics and story

The key here is that we have seen examples of games that are just so simple but with a mechanic that is so well conceived and keeps them playing all the time.

And the reason is that at the end the mechanic is how the player interacts with the game, and if the experience is not good, then players might not like it. Imagine a game like Grand Theft Auto but here you had to press a button to breathe, otherwise you lose.

That means the game mechanic will be to breathe and that makes no sense, will be annoying for the player instead of fun. That’s why mechanics are key when giving the player the best experience.

Examples in real life

There are many games that don't have too much story, graphics that are good (but not like super realistic), but have a mechanic that just made it so popular. Here are popular games where the focus was mechanics:

Common Game Mechanic Ideas

There are hidden mechanics that have never been implemented, and we might discover them in the future. Here are some popular game mechanics:

Innovating Game Mechanic Ideas

There are hidden mechanics that have never been implemented, and we might discover them in the future. Here are some popular game mechanics:

A good mechanic can help you with publishers

As described by many indie developers, if you're starting in game development, a small demo of what your game is about and showing off your game mechanic will help you a lot. Even a small gif in social media can help with the