--- key: mechanic/metroidbrainia--family-04 type: mechanic id: metroidbrainia--family-04 lang: en title: Discovering physical and systemic rules summary: >- Players infer a consistent rule governing forces or interactions and apply it to new problems. updatedAt: '2026-10-22' status: active url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/metroidbrainia--family-04/' jsonUrl: >- https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/metroidbrainia--family-04.json markdownUrl: >- https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/metroidbrainia--family-04.md aliases: - Discovering systemic rules tags: - Metroidbrainia - Mechanics catalog sourceIds: - source-ce656b8313634ee1 - source-8a3a7e105b6c798e sources: - id: source-ce656b8313634ee1 title: Description of Draknek & Friends url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1052990/A_Monsters_Expedition/' verifiedAt: null - id: source-8a3a7e105b6c798e title: Portal url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/' verifiedAt: null relations: [] placements: - catalogId: metroidbrainia id: family-04 title: Metroidbrainia url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/metroidbrainia/#family-04' categoryIds: - section-1 supersededBy: [] attributes: preview: updatedAt: '2026-10-22' title: Discovering systemic rules description: >- Players infer a consistent rule governing forces or interactions and apply it to new problems. image: src: images/mechanics/adventure-portal-04.webp width: 640 height: 360 game: Portal sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/' originalUrl: >- https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/400/0000002586.1920x1080.jpg?t=1745368554 credit: Valve rights: >- Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0. caption: A cube holds a button down with its weight alt: A cube holds a button down with its weight markers: - x: 80 'y': 53 label: The support transfers the cube’s weight to the button tips: - Let players test the rule in another example before a major challenge. examples: - title: Portal url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/' 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/metroidbrainia --- # Discovering physical and systemic rules id: metroidbrainia--family-04 type: mechanic key: mechanic/metroidbrainia--family-04 lang: en status: active url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/metroidbrainia--family-04/ Players infer a consistent rule governing forces or interactions and apply it to new problems. ## At a glance ![A cube holds a button down with its weight](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-portal-04.webp) [Portal](https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0. 1. The support transfers the cube’s weight to the button - Let players test the rule in another example before a major challenge. - [Portal](https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/) ## How it works The player finds out by what laws the world works. These laws may be fictitious if the game applies them consistently. An example of deep exploration of a small set of interactions: A Monster's Expedition, where moving trees creates paths between islands. The developers specifically emphasize simple mechanics with many unlockable possibilities. Description of Draknek & Friends. ## Variants ### Variants and applications - Mass and balance. The weight of objects affects platforms, counterweights, supports and structural stability - Friction and adhesion. Surfaces hold objects differently, convey movement, or allow sliding - Buoyancy and displacement. Objects change fluid levels, become bridges, or lift other objects - Material conversion. An object changes properties when frozen, melted, destroyed, dissolved, or otherwise transformed - Heat and combustion. The player unlocks the conditions of heating, ignition, spread and cease fire - Conductivity and signal transmission. Electricity, energy or conditioned signal propagates according to discovered rules - Optical interactions. Light is reflected, refracted, blocked or focused to control devices and access - Acoustic interactions. Sound travels through a medium, is reflected, or causes resonance and a physical reaction. - Pressure and flows. Closing channels, changing pressure or flow direction rearranges the available space ## Context and limits In metroidbrainia, progression depends heavily on the player's knowledge: an open rule changes the available actions, routes, or decisions. 91 mechanics in 12 groups, progression techniques, training techniques and edge cases are stored here. For a project, check what knowledge is acquired, how it is derived, what it reveals, and where it is reused. Specific game solutions are not disclosed. ## 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. - [Description of Draknek & Friends](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1052990/A_Monsters_Expedition/) (id: source-ce656b8313634ee1) - [Portal](https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/) (id: source-8a3a7e105b6c798e) CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors