---
key: mechanic/point-and-click--family-42
type: mechanic
id: point-and-click--family-42
lang: en
title: 'Errors, retries and variation'
summary: >-
  The player learns from failure and retries with retained knowledge or changed
  conditions.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/point-and-click--family-42/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-42.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-42.md
aliases:
  - Failure and retries
tags:
  - Point-and-click adventures
  - Puzzle and progression architecture
sourceIds:
  - source-aba2be33e4d64649
sources:
  - id: source-aba2be33e4d64649
    title: Braid
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: point-and-click
    id: family-42
    title: Point-and-click adventures
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/point-and-click/#family-42'
    categoryIds:
      - section-6
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Failure and retries
    description: >-
      The player learns from failure and retries with retained knowledge or
      changed conditions.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-braid-04.webp
      width: 1280
      height: 720
      game: Braid
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/26800/0000007892.1920x1080.jpg?t=1734027955
      credit: Number None
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Repeated actions and their echo after rewinding in Braid
      alt: Repeated actions and their echo after rewinding in Braid
      markers:
        - x: 40
          'y': 65
          label: Hero’s current position
        - x: 74
          'y': 54
          label: An echo repeats rewound actions
    tips:
      - >-
        Retain useful knowledge and reduce repetition of already understood
        actions.
    examples:
      - title: Braid
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/'
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
---
# Errors, retries and variation

id: point-and-click--family-42
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/point-and-click--family-42
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/point-and-click--family-42/

The player learns from failure and retries with retained knowledge or changed conditions.

## At a glance

![Repeated actions and their echo after rewinding in Braid](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-braid-04.webp)

[Braid](https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Hero’s current position
2. An echo repeats rewound actions

- Retain useful knowledge and reduce repetition of already understood actions.

- [Braid](https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/)

## How it works

The player learns from failure and retries with retained knowledge or changed conditions.

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-42-branch-1"></a>

- Safe errors: obtain feedback without losing progress. <a id="family-42-variant-1"></a>
- Reversibility: restore a world or object state and try another approach. <a id="family-42-variant-2"></a>
- Failed attempts: retry dialogue, minigames, sections or scenes. <a id="family-42-variant-3"></a>
- Death and restart: return to checkpoints, episode starts or saves. <a id="family-42-variant-4"></a>
- Permanent loss: lose items, witnesses, branches or solutions. <a id="family-42-variant-5"></a>
- Dead ends: lose every way to complete a task, potentially without a clear warning. <a id="family-42-variant-6"></a>
- Continuing after failure: progress with changed conditions and consequences. <a id="family-42-variant-7"></a>
- Reconfiguration: change codes, layouts, rules or datasets on retry. <a id="family-42-variant-8"></a>
- Procedural or reactive tasks: generate conditions from algorithms, action history and world state. <a id="family-42-variant-9"></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.

- [Braid](https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/) (id: source-aba2be33e4d64649)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors