{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/social-cooperation--t204","type":"mechanic","id":"social-cooperation--t204","lang":"en","title":"Asymmetric roles and abilities","summary":"Different roles receive distinct actions and information, making progress depend on another participant's contribution.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/social-cooperation--t204/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/social-cooperation--t204.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/social-cooperation--t204.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Social relationships and shared play","Mechanics and variants"],"sourceIds":["source-3817d420df0baa92","source-909400af9fbfca32"],"sources":[{"id":"source-3817d420df0baa92","title":"Robert Nystrom: State","url":"https://github.com/munificent/game-programming-patterns/blob/master/book/state.markdown","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-909400af9fbfca32","title":"Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Different roles receive distinct actions and information, making progress depend on another participant's contribution."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Mechanic variants\n\n<a id=\"t204-variants\"></a>\n\n- Operators see maps while agents see obstacles. <a id=\"t204-v1\"></a>\n- A powerful role creates a route for a precise role. <a id=\"t204-v2\"></a>\n- Role swaps teach both viewpoints. <a id=\"t204-v3\"></a>\n- Independent subtasks occupy a waiting participant. <a id=\"t204-v4\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"A dispatcher changes bridges on a map while a pilot reports obstacles invisible to the dispatcher.\n\nPrototype check: Test useful activity for both roles at every stage, including when one participant makes an error."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"Social mechanics connect participants’ different capabilities through care, trust, coordination and conflicting commitments. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map."}],"relations":[{"type":"uses","direction":"outgoing","label":"Sources in the selection","key":"resource/state-pattern","title":"State: Game Programming Patterns","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-state-pattern","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.md"}],"placements":[{"catalogId":"social-cooperation","id":"t204","title":"Social relationships and shared play","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/social-cooperation/#t204","categoryIds":["mechanics"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Asymmetric roles and abilities","description":"Different roles receive distinct actions and information, making progress depend on another participant's contribution.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/adventure-keep-talking-00.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/341800/ss_55f22f9996c327c281d241ed09d43c74337d7e30.1920x1080.jpg?t=1699020889","credit":"Steel Crate Games","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"The defuser sees modules that must be described to an expert","alt":"The defuser sees modules that must be described to an expert","markers":[{"x":51,"y":50,"label":"Modules require exchanging precise information"}]},"tips":["Make dependence mutual and each participant’s contribution visible."],"examples":[{"title":"Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/social-cooperation"}}