---
key: mechanic/controller-input--t285
type: mechanic
id: controller-input--t285
lang: en
title: 'Trackballs, wheels and rotary controllers'
summary: >-
  Rotation supplies an angle or its change. In Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure
  the Playdate crank moves the character’s timeline forwards or backwards.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/controller-input--t285/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/controller-input--t285.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/controller-input--t285.md
aliases:
  - 'Trackball, wheel and rotary input'
tags:
  - Traditional input devices
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-9a110e52e07a4ab3
  - source-3ca20e35dc864cf4
sources:
  - id: source-9a110e52e07a4ab3
    title: 'MDN: Gamepad API'
    url: 'https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Gamepad_API'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-3ca20e35dc864cf4
    title: Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure
    url: 'https://play.date/games/crankin/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: controller-input
    id: t285
    title: Traditional input devices
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/controller-input/#t285'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: 'Trackball, wheel and rotary input'
    description: >-
      Rotation supplies an angle or its change. In Crankin’s Time Travel
      Adventure the Playdate crank moves the character’s timeline forwards or
      backwards.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/control-crankin.webp
      width: 400
      height: 240
      game: Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure
      sourceUrl: 'https://play.date/games/crankin/'
      originalUrl: 'https://play.date/media/games/com.uvula.crankin/Crankin-2_ssOLbgr.png'
      credit: >-
        uvula / Keita Takahashi / Ryan Mohler / Matthew Grimm / Shaun Inman /
        Panic
      rights: >-
        © uvula and respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed screenshot;
        all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: 'Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure: the crank controls the character’s time'
      alt: 'Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure: the crank controls the character’s time'
      markers:
        - x: 50
          'y': 61
          label: The crank moves the hero along a personal timeline
    tips:
      - >-
        Distinguish angle changes from absolute position and define what
        stopping does.
    examples:
      - title: Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure
        url: 'https://play.date/games/crankin/'
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/controller-input
---
# Trackballs, wheels and rotary controllers

id: controller-input--t285
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/controller-input--t285
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/controller-input--t285/

Rotation supplies an angle or its change. In Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure the Playdate crank moves the character’s timeline forwards or backwards.

## At a glance

![Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure: the crank controls the character’s time](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/control-crankin.webp)

[Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure](https://play.date/games/crankin/) · © uvula and respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. The crank moves the hero along a personal timeline

- Distinguish angle changes from absolute position and define what stopping does.

- [Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure](https://play.date/games/crankin/)

## How it works

Rotary input controls relative change or angle, supporting continuous correction without a normal screen boundary.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t285-variants"></a>

- Relative rotation accumulates parameter changes. <a id="t285-v1"></a>
- Absolute angles select a dial position. <a id="t285-v2"></a>
- Inertia preserves motion after input stops. <a id="t285-v3"></a>
- Detents divide continuous travel into positions. <a id="t285-v4"></a>

## Design example

A player turns a valve with a trackball, adjusting flow without moving a pointer to the screen edge.

Prototype check: Test direction, units and missed events during fast rotation, including devices with different step counts.

## Context and limits

Controllers turn physical movement into game parameters; range, neutral position and feedback should agree. 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.

## Connected materials


## Sources and 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.

- [MDN: Gamepad API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Gamepad_API) (id: source-9a110e52e07a4ab3)
- [Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure](https://play.date/games/crankin/) (id: source-3ca20e35dc864cf4)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors