{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/shared-family-10","type":"mechanic","id":"shared-family-10","lang":"en","title":"Patterns, analogies and rules","summary":"Players infer a recurring relationship, test it and predict the next element or action.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-10/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-10.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-10.md","aliases":["Patterns and rules"],"tags":["Children’s games","Structures, logic and space","Educational games"],"sourceIds":["source-ee038a4e63ad2ca4"],"sources":[{"id":"source-ee038a4e63ad2ca4","title":"Hexcells","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Continue a repeating pattern"},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-10-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Continue a repeating pattern <a id=\"family-10-variant-1\"></a>\n- Continue a number sequence <a id=\"family-10-variant-2\"></a>\n- Continue alternating actions <a id=\"family-10-variant-3\"></a>\n- Infer a transformation rule <a id=\"family-10-variant-4\"></a>\n- Fill a pattern gap <a id=\"family-10-variant-5\"></a>\n- Find a pattern violation <a id=\"family-10-variant-6\"></a>\n- Solve an analogy <a id=\"family-10-variant-7\"></a>\n- Complete a two-property matrix <a id=\"family-10-variant-8\"></a>\n- Infer rules from examples <a id=\"family-10-variant-9\"></a>\n- Create a pattern <a id=\"family-10-variant-10\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Infer a magic machine's rule from several transformations."},{"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-10","title":"Children’s games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-10","categoryIds":["logic"]},{"catalogId":"education","id":"family-10","title":"Educational games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-10","categoryIds":["logic"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Patterns and rules","description":"Players infer a recurring relationship, test it and predict the next element or action.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/adventure-hexcells-02.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Hexcells","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/265890/ss_b011707202d23cf553d6f1aa6c68cc1c93115151.1920x1080.jpg?t=1667308643","credit":"Matthew Brown","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"Numbers constrain valid cell markings","alt":"Numbers constrain valid cell markings","markers":[{"x":50,"y":41,"label":"A number constrains neighboring cells"}]},"tips":["Let players test an inferred rule on several independent examples."],"examples":[{"title":"Hexcells","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/"}]}},"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"}}