---
key: mechanic/point-and-click--family-29
type: mechanic
id: point-and-click--family-29
lang: en
title: 'Abilities, forms and controlled entities'
summary: >-
  The player changes form or controlled entity to gain a different set of
  actions.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/point-and-click--family-29/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-29.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-29.md
aliases:
  - Abilities and controlled entities
tags:
  - Point-and-click adventures
  - Extended adventure systems
sourceIds:
  - source-d0f904004e312936
sources:
  - id: source-d0f904004e312936
    title: 'Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective'
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1967430/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: point-and-click
    id: family-29
    title: Point-and-click adventures
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/point-and-click/#family-29'
    categoryIds:
      - section-4
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Abilities and controlled entities
    description: >-
      The player changes form or controlled entity to gain a different set of
      actions.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-ghost-trick-00.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: 'Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective'
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1967430/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1967430/ss_0d9a02d8e24e3fb05b1fda410cbb7d9470eb21e3.1920x1080.jpg?t=1787717141
      credit: 'CAPCOM Co., Ltd.'
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: The ghost selects an object to possess
      alt: The ghost selects an object to possess
      markers:
        - x: 51
          'y': 67
          label: Core of an object available to control
    tips:
      - Show the new entity’s actions and how control can return.
    examples:
      - title: 'Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective'
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1967430/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked
  sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/point-and-click
---
# Abilities, forms and controlled entities

id: point-and-click--family-29
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/point-and-click--family-29
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/point-and-click--family-29/

The player changes form or controlled entity to gain a different set of actions.

## At a glance

![The ghost selects an object to possess](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-ghost-trick-00.webp)

[Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1967430/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Core of an object available to control

- Show the new entity’s actions and how control can return.

- [Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1967430/)

## How it works

The player changes form or controlled entity to gain a different set of actions.

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-29-branch-1"></a>

- Physical abilities: use strength, size, agility, resistance or unusual anatomy. <a id="family-29-variant-1"></a>
- Special perception: use fictional trace vision, hidden hearing, emotion reading or lie detection. <a id="family-29-variant-2"></a>
- Remote effects: move, heat, activate or change distant objects. <a id="family-29-variant-3"></a>
- Reading memories and thoughts: obtain information unavailable through ordinary inspection. <a id="family-29-variant-4"></a>
- Possession: enter animals, mechanisms or characters and use their capabilities. <a id="family-29-variant-5"></a>
- Transformation: change form, size, species, status or available actions. <a id="family-29-variant-6"></a>
- Helpers: send drones, familiars, robots or animals into inaccessible places. <a id="family-29-variant-7"></a>
- Ability limits: solve range, charge, area, prohibition and combined-power constraints. <a id="family-29-variant-8"></a>

## Context and limits

A working classification with 44 families and 355 variants. Families overlap: one puzzle can combine items, dialogue, deduction and a character schedule. Core actions, progression architecture and assistance are separate layers. Sources identify examples from neighboring adventure genres.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.

- [Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1967430/) (id: source-d0f904004e312936)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors