{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/shared-family-03","type":"mechanic","id":"shared-family-03","lang":"en","title":"Distinguishing properties and signals","summary":"Players distinguish colour, shape, sound or another feature and use the difference to choose an action.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-03/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-03.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-03.md","aliases":["Discriminating features and signals"],"tags":["Children’s games","Perception, attention and information","Educational games"],"sourceIds":["source-e6546791156b5e83"],"sources":[{"id":"source-e6546791156b5e83","title":"The Talos Principle","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Distinguish colors and shades"},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-03-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Distinguish colors and shades <a id=\"family-03-variant-1\"></a>\n- Distinguish shapes and contours <a id=\"family-03-variant-2\"></a>\n- Distinguish size and proportions <a id=\"family-03-variant-3\"></a>\n- Distinguish position and direction <a id=\"family-03-variant-4\"></a>\n- Distinguish similar symbols <a id=\"family-03-variant-5\"></a>\n- Distinguish pitch and timbre <a id=\"family-03-variant-6\"></a>\n- Distinguish rhythms <a id=\"family-03-variant-7\"></a>\n- Distinguish textures by touch <a id=\"family-03-variant-8\"></a>\n- Recognize silhouettes or fragments <a id=\"family-03-variant-9\"></a>\n- Recognize an object from another angle <a id=\"family-03-variant-10\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Identify an instrument by sound and select its picture."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"An action map for children’s digital, board, active and mixed games. An instructional goal is optional: children can invent stories, explore toys, compete or enjoy play itself. Select age suitability, reading demands, controls and pace separately; different implementations can suit different ages. Learning tasks and instructional support have their own reference."},{"id":"context-education","title":"Context: Educational games","body":"A mechanic map for games with explicit learning goals, from first encounters with a topic to professional practice. It covers children, teenagers and adults; choose subject, difficulty, context and controls for the learner. Player actions, subject content, instructional support and assessment are distinct layers. Scores and game completion alone do not establish mastery or skill transfer."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"children","id":"family-03","title":"Children’s games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-03","categoryIds":["perception"]},{"catalogId":"education","id":"family-03","title":"Educational games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-03","categoryIds":["perception"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Discriminating features and signals","description":"Players distinguish colour, shape, sound or another feature and use the difference to choose an action.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/adventure-talos-principle-05.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"The Talos Principle","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/257510/ss_b42acabe63d45a11580a2949e34f305e1bd10fc7.1920x1080.jpg?t=1744327639","credit":"Croteam / Devolver Digital","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"Colored beams are routed through connectors","alt":"Colored beams are routed through connectors","markers":[{"x":76,"y":30,"label":"A red beam reaches its receiver"},{"x":31,"y":35,"label":"A blue beam follows a different connection"}]},"tips":["Make signals distinguishable through more than one property."],"examples":[{"title":"The Talos Principle","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy, with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support specific examples, not the entire classification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/children"}}