{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/point-and-click--family-38","type":"mechanic","id":"point-and-click--family-38","lang":"en","title":"Metagame and the fourth wall","summary":"The player uses knowledge of the interface and game conventions as part of a solution within or around its world.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/point-and-click--family-38/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-38.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-38.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Point-and-click adventures","Hybrids and uncommon branches"],"sourceIds":["source-73d6fb8c09cf6ed8"],"sources":[{"id":"source-73d6fb8c09cf6ed8","title":"There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1240210/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"The player uses knowledge of the interface and game conventions as part of a solution within or around its world."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-38-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Presentation: use interface or visual elements as puzzle objects. <a id=\"family-38-variant-1\"></a>\n- Cursor: change and exploit pointer properties under special rules. <a id=\"family-38-variant-2\"></a>\n- Menus: solve authored puzzles through menus or settings. <a id=\"family-38-variant-3\"></a>\n- Save/load: use story-designed save changes and repeated states. <a id=\"family-38-variant-4\"></a>\n- Companion materials: find keys in supplied manuals or documents. <a id=\"family-38-variant-5\"></a>\n- Fictional external environments: use specifically created sites, apps, files or channels. <a id=\"family-38-variant-6\"></a>\n- Player awareness: interact with characters noticing choices, repetition and control. <a id=\"family-38-variant-7\"></a>\n- Rule changes: alter allowed actions, commands, word meanings or system logic within the game design. <a id=\"family-38-variant-8\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A working classification with 44 families and 355 variants. Families overlap: one puzzle can combine items, dialogue, deduction and a character schedule. Core actions, progression architecture and assistance are separate layers. Sources identify examples from neighboring adventure genres."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"point-and-click","id":"family-38","title":"Point-and-click adventures","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/point-and-click/#family-38","categoryIds":["section-5"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Metagame and the fourth wall","description":"The player uses knowledge of the interface and game conventions as part of a solution within or around its world.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/adventure-there-is-no-game-00.webp","width":1280,"height":720,"game":"There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1240210/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1240210/ss_8c20dd0ab3a824c27fae5b2c921a3984d1821a34.1920x1080.jpg?t=1728289933","credit":"Draw Me A Pixel","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"Title letters become objects on the playing field","alt":"Title letters become objects on the playing field","markers":[{"x":47,"y":26,"label":"Interface letters participate in the puzzle"},{"x":47,"y":69,"label":"A detached element enters the playing area"}]},"tips":["Teach a broken convention as clearly as an ordinary game rule."],"examples":[{"title":"There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1240210/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/point-and-click"}}