---
key: mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-navigating-rapids
type: mechanic
id: game-mechanics--gm-navigating-rapids
lang: en
title: Navigating rapids
summary: The player steers a craft through obstacles in fast-flowing water.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-navigating-rapids/
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-navigating-rapids.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-navigating-rapids.md
aliases:
  - Navigate rapids
tags:
  - Game design techniques
  - Vehicles
sourceIds:
  - source-50aa13fba9078c76
  - source-5391cbeef3f829d1
  - source-4522105a78f4e99f
sources:
  - id: source-50aa13fba9078c76
    title: 'Game Mechanics: Navigating rapids'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-5391cbeef3f829d1
    title: Tomb Raider III (1998)
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids/game/tomb-raider-iii'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-4522105a78f4e99f
    title: 'Uncharted: Drake''s Fortune (2007)'
    url: >-
      https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids/game/uncharted-drakes-fortune
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: game-mechanics
    id: gm-navigating-rapids
    title: Game design techniques
    url: >-
      https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/game-mechanics/#gm-navigating-rapids
    categoryIds:
      - gm-category-vehicles
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Navigate rapids
    description: The player steers a craft through obstacles in fast-flowing water.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/world-navigating-rapids.webp
      width: 418
      height: 234
      game: Tomb Raider III
      sourceUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids'
      originalUrl: 'https://cdn.gamemechanics.org/webm/tomb_raider_3_whitewater_kayak.webm'
      sourceFrameSeconds: 1.71
      credit: Core Design; frame from clip via GameMechanics.org
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Source host:
        GameMechanics.org. Visible source watermarks preserved. All rights
        reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Lara steers a kayak along a rushing canyon river
      alt: 'Tomb Raider III: Lara steers a kayak along a rushing canyon river.'
      markers:
        - x: 50
          'y': 55
          label: Kayak in the fast current
    tips:
      - 'Make current, obstacles and the next turn readable in advance.'
    examples:
      - title: Tomb Raider III
        url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Editorial reference index based on the 199 public Game Mechanics pattern pages
  checked on 2026-10-20. Original concise RU/EN definitions by
  gamemechanics.pro; pattern names, category associations and game-reference
  URLs retained from gamemechanics.org. The source gallery includes a film
  analogy. Linked materials retain their original rights; references are
  upstream attributions, not independent verification.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/game-mechanics
---
# Navigating rapids

id: game-mechanics--gm-navigating-rapids
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-navigating-rapids
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-navigating-rapids/

The player steers a craft through obstacles in fast-flowing water.

## At a glance

![Tomb Raider III: Lara steers a kayak along a rushing canyon river.](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/world-navigating-rapids.webp)

[Tomb Raider III](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Source host: GameMechanics.org. Visible source watermarks preserved. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

[Source recording](https://cdn.gamemechanics.org/webm/tomb_raider_3_whitewater_kayak.webm), 1.71 s

1. Kayak in the fast current

- Make current, obstacles and the next turn readable in advance.

- [Tomb Raider III](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids)

## How it works

The player steers a craft through obstacles in fast-flowing water.

## Variants

### How the technique works

<a id="gm-navigating-rapids-rule"></a>

- The player steers a craft through obstacles in fast-flowing water. <a id="gm-navigating-rapids-definition"></a>

## Context and limits

All 199 Game Mechanics entries at the check date: player actions, systems, presentation techniques and contested patterns. Entries are grouped by their first source-card category; all categories appear in their descriptions. Definitions use original wording. References link to game-specific galleries; images and videos remain at the source.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Editorial reference index based on the 199 public Game Mechanics pattern pages checked on 2026-10-20. Original concise RU/EN definitions by gamemechanics.pro; pattern names, category associations and game-reference URLs retained from gamemechanics.org. The source gallery includes a film analogy. Linked materials retain their original rights; references are upstream attributions, not independent verification.

- [Game Mechanics: Navigating rapids](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids) (id: source-50aa13fba9078c76)
- [Tomb Raider III (1998)](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids/game/tomb-raider-iii) (id: source-5391cbeef3f829d1)
- [Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007)](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/navigating-rapids/game/uncharted-drakes-fortune) (id: source-4522105a78f4e99f)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors