---
key: mechanic/drawing--family-g13
type: mechanic
id: drawing--family-g13
lang: en
title: 'Information, visibility and exploration'
summary: >-
The stroke helps to see, record, or interpret information about the game
world.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/drawing--family-g13/'
jsonUrl: >-
https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/drawing--family-g13.json
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/drawing--family-g13.md'
aliases: []
tags:
- Drawing
- Mechanics catalog
sourceIds:
- source-6d868c840a233014
sources:
- id: source-6d868c840a233014
title: The Unfinished Swan
url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1206430/'
verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
- catalogId: drawing
id: family-g13
title: Drawing
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/drawing/#family-g13'
categoryIds:
- section-1
supersededBy: []
attributes:
preview:
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
title: 'Information, visibility and exploration'
description: >-
The stroke helps to see, record, or interpret information about the game
world.
image:
src: images/mechanics/interface-the-unfinished-swan-00.webp
width: 1280
height: 720
game: The Unfinished Swan
sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1206430/'
originalUrl: >-
https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1206430/ss_3a0f68f9e79160df69c05a3ce9717e6ef9df9cd3.1920x1080.jpg?t=1729099245
credit: Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive
rights: >-
© Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive. All rights reserved. Excluded
from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
caption: 'The Unfinished Swan: black paint reveals the white surroundings'
alt: 'The Unfinished Swan: black paint reveals the white surroundings'
markers:
- x: 46
'y': 55
label: Paint marks reveal previously invisible object boundaries
tips:
- Keep enough context to locate each discovery in the world.
examples:
- title: The Unfinished Swan
url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1206430/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on
2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are
preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire
classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and
editorial review.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/drawing
---
# Information, visibility and exploration
id: drawing--family-g13
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/drawing--family-g13
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/drawing--family-g13/
The stroke helps to see, record, or interpret information about the game world.
## At a glance
[The Unfinished Swan](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1206430/) · © Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive. All rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
1. Paint marks reveal previously invisible object boundaries
- Keep enough context to locate each discovery in the world.
- [The Unfinished Swan](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1206430/)
## How it works
The stroke helps to see, record, or interpret information about the game world.
## Variants
### Variants and applications
- Revealing hidden geometry. Rule: Apply paint to an invisible surface and find out its shape. Criterion: Information received. Example status: Design pattern.
- Erasing the top layer. Rule: Clear the cover to reveal the image underneath. Criterion: Revealed area. Example status: Design pattern.
- Glowing trail. Rule: Draw a line that illuminates the required places or maintains a landmark in the dark. Criterion: Visibility. Example status: Design pattern.
- Mapping by hand. Rule: Draw your own map based on observations and use it for navigation. Criterion: Usefulness of the model. Example status: Design pattern.
- Notes in the investigation. Rule: Mark evidence, connections or suspicious areas in the image. Criterion: Correctness of the annotation. Example status: Design pattern.
- Restoring an event using a circuit. Rule: Draw the location of the participants or their movements as an answer to the problem. Criterion: Correspondence to the evidence. Example status: Design pattern.
- Testing the hypothesis by drawing. Rule: Add a suspected detail and check if it is consistent with the rest of the information. Criterion: Consistency. Example status: Design pattern.
- Camouflage pattern. Rule: Apply a pattern that reduces the visibility of the object for the observer provided by the game. Criterion: Detectability. Example status: Design pattern.
- Drawn tracks and lures. Rule: Place a noticeable mark or mark to which creatures controlled by the game react. Criterion: Agent reaction. Example status: Design pattern.
## Context and limits
The author's working classification of mechanics in which the player creates or changes an image, line, outline or stroke, and the game uses the result. Does not claim to be a closed universal list. Catalog unit: player action, drawing interpretation and result. Related options are separated when the rule or outcome criterion changes. A design pattern means that the specific game example in that directory is untested; This is not a statement about the primacy, prevalence or absence of such games.
## Connected materials
## Sources and provenance
Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.
- [The Unfinished Swan](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1206430/) (id: source-6d868c840a233014)
CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors