---
key: mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-tornado
type: mechanic
id: game-mechanics--gm-tornado
lang: en
title: Tornado
summary: A moving vortex creates hazards and affects the environment.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-tornado/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-tornado.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-tornado.md
aliases: []
tags:
  - Game design techniques
  - Environmental hazards
  - Destruction
  - Weather
sourceIds:
  - source-39309382679b2d8e
  - source-5fd8e74f6dd20b63
  - source-528032dd24dc8327
sources:
  - id: source-39309382679b2d8e
    title: 'Game Mechanics: Tornado'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-5fd8e74f6dd20b63
    title: Just Cause 4 (2018)
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado/game/just-cause-4'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-528032dd24dc8327
    title: Mad Max (2015)
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado/game/mad-max'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: game-mechanics
    id: gm-tornado
    title: Game design techniques
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/game-mechanics/#gm-tornado'
    categoryIds:
      - gm-category-destruction
      - gm-category-weather
      - gm-category-environmental-hazards
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Tornado
    description: A moving vortex creates hazards and affects the environment.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/atmosphere-tornado.webp
      width: 400
      height: 220
      game: Just Cause 4
      sourceUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado'
      originalUrl: 'https://cdn.gamemechanics.org/webm/just_cause_4_tornado.webm'
      sourceFrameSeconds: 16.66
      credit: Avalanche Studios; 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: A funnel lifts objects beside the road
      alt: 'Just Cause 4: A funnel lifts objects beside the road.'
      markers:
        - x: 47
          'y': 33
          label: The tornado’s moving funnel
    tips:
      - Signal the affected area and an escape route in advance.
    examples:
      - title: Just Cause 4
        url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado'
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
---
# Tornado

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

A moving vortex creates hazards and affects the environment.

## At a glance

![Just Cause 4: A funnel lifts objects beside the road.](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/atmosphere-tornado.webp)

[Just Cause 4](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado) · 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/just_cause_4_tornado.webm), 16.66 s

1. The tornado’s moving funnel

- Signal the affected area and an escape route in advance.

- [Just Cause 4](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado)

## How it works

A moving vortex creates hazards and affects the environment.

## Variants

### How the technique works

<a id="gm-tornado-rule"></a>

- A moving vortex creates hazards and affects the environment. <a id="gm-tornado-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: Tornado](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado) (id: source-39309382679b2d8e)
- [Just Cause 4 (2018)](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado/game/just-cause-4) (id: source-5fd8e74f6dd20b63)
- [Mad Max (2015)](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/tornado/game/mad-max) (id: source-528032dd24dc8327)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors