An Atomic Theory of Game Mechanics

This is an early diagram created for the class I was working on while developing this material.

In the 2nd edition of Pattern Language for Game Design, I will be adding advanced pattern exercises focused on game mechanics. Both of those things are important and distinct. The structure of these exercises is more advanced than those in the preceding sections. Many will work best if a group conducts them, and they will be very challenging or time-consuming for an individual. The focus on mechanics here is also important as the process of deriving mechanics-based patterns and functional patterns, to use the language of an earlier exercise, is distinct. It will be necessary to do more conceptual design work in selecting the seeds for these patterns, and the exercises themselves call for more advanced analytical design to execute.

As you have seen in the first edition, design patterns can be applied to many different aspects of game design. The work of Adams and Dormans successfully applies the idea of patterns to game systems. Their patterns found in Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design are, of course, mechanically focused. The pattern language they provide describes very high-level and general patterns, mainly looking at game systems as an economy and applying economic principles to design implementation. That’s a valuable approach, and I adopt some of that framework in what follows. However, I am interested in presenting a method, or Lens in the language of Jesse Schell, that will…