{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/shared-family-49","type":"mechanic","id":"shared-family-49","lang":"en","title":"Open projects and creating games","summary":"Players choose their own goal, build a solution from available tools and evaluate it within the resulting system.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-49/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-49.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-49.md","aliases":["Open-ended projects"],"tags":["Children’s games","Story, communication and creativity","Educational games"],"sourceIds":["source-fee3301bed8a96da"],"sources":[{"id":"source-fee3301bed8a96da","title":"Factorio","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Choose personal goals"},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-49-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Choose personal goals <a id=\"family-49-variant-1\"></a>\n- Plan projects <a id=\"family-49-variant-2\"></a>\n- Create worlds <a id=\"family-49-variant-3\"></a>\n- Create levels <a id=\"family-49-variant-4\"></a>\n- Create tasks for others <a id=\"family-49-variant-5\"></a>\n- Create game rules <a id=\"family-49-variant-6\"></a>\n- Select success criteria <a id=\"family-49-variant-7\"></a>\n- Explore without preset answers <a id=\"family-49-variant-8\"></a>\n- Build portfolios <a id=\"family-49-variant-9\"></a>\n- Test with users <a id=\"family-49-variant-10\"></a>\n- Revise from feedback <a id=\"family-49-variant-11\"></a>\n- Combine tools <a id=\"family-49-variant-12\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Create a maze solvable in exactly ten commands."},{"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-49","title":"Children’s games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-49","categoryIds":["social"]},{"catalogId":"education","id":"family-49","title":"Educational games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-49","categoryIds":["social"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Open-ended projects","description":"Players choose their own goal, build a solution from available tools and evaluate it within the resulting system.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/factorio-copper-wire.webp","width":1224,"height":689,"game":"Factorio","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/427520/ss_37aa19e26e20e18a220fd8870dac6efb0e98b5f0.1920x1080.jpg?t=1787348817","credit":"Wube Software","rights":"© Wube Software. All rights reserved.","caption":"Copper plates become cable","alt":"Factorio: assembling machines take copper plates from one belt and deliver copper cable onto another.","markers":[{"x":29,"y":51,"label":"Input: copper plates on a belt"},{"x":53,"y":66,"label":"The machine converts its input"},{"x":74,"y":50,"label":"Output: cable for downstream consumers"}]},"tips":["Preserve the ability to choose a goal and test an individual solution."],"examples":[{"title":"Factorio","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/"}]}},"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"}}