Game mechanics blueprints
113 blueprints for things that make a game feel good, explained in plain words, each with a text to paste to your AI.
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Progression
Meta-Progression
Meta-progression turns a lost run into a step forward. The player always leaves with something, so failing feels like progress and each new run starts a little stronger.
World
Minimap and Fog of War
Exploring means not knowing. Fog keeps the world unknown until the player has been there, remembers what they found, and gives the minimap something honest to draw: only what the player knows, as they last saw it.
Movement
Moving Platforms
A platform that travels on its own and takes the player along. It makes the player time jumps against a moving target, and it turns a gap or a shaft into a ride.
Story
Multiple Endings
Different endings make a story worth playing twice. The player must feel that their deeds led to the end they got, and must never reach a finish that looks like a mistake: no ending, the wrong one because of a hidden rule, or one that changes after it was shown.
World
NPC Daily Schedules
Characters with a routine make a world feel lived in, and they give the player a reason to plan: find the baker before noon, wait for the guard to leave, catch someone at the tavern.
Movement
One-Way Platforms
A ledge that is open from below and solid from above. It lets the player climb through platforms by jumping, stand on them, and drop back down on purpose, so a level can stack floors without walls and ceilings getting in the way.
Resources
Oxygen Meter
Oxygen puts a clock on every dive. The player weighs how much farther to swim against how much air is left, so deep water feels risky without a sudden death.
Combat
Parry
A parry rewards close attention. Reading an enemy's attack and answering it at the last moment feels better than running away from it, and it turns defence into the start of an attack.
Progression
Perk Choices
Perk choices make every level-up a small decision instead of a gift. Because the hand is partly luck, no two runs build the same character, and the player has to work with what shows up.
World
Pressure Plate Puzzles
Plates turn the level itself into a puzzle: the player has to work out what to put where, and how many things it takes, before the way ahead opens.
Progression
Prestige Reset
A prestige reset turns a run that has slowed down into a fresh start that is faster than the last one. The player gives up a lot, gets something lasting, and the game can go on for much longer without running out of numbers.
World
Procedural Dungeons
A new dungeon every run keeps a game fresh without a level designer for every floor. A seed makes it repeatable, so a player can share a run and you can replay a bug, and a check makes sure no dungeon is ever impossible to finish.