---
key: mechanic/shared-family-03
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-03
lang: en
title: Distinguishing properties and signals
summary: >-
  Players distinguish colour, shape, sound or another feature and use the
  difference to choose an action.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-03/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-03.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-03.md'
aliases:
  - Discriminating features and signals
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Perception, attention and information'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-e6546791156b5e83
sources:
  - id: source-e6546791156b5e83
    title: The Talos Principle
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-03
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-03'
    categoryIds:
      - perception
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-03
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-03'
    categoryIds:
      - perception
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Discriminating features and signals
    description: >-
      Players distinguish colour, shape, sound or another feature and use the
      difference to choose an action.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-talos-principle-05.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: The Talos Principle
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/257510/ss_b42acabe63d45a11580a2949e34f305e1bd10fc7.1920x1080.jpg?t=1744327639
      credit: Croteam / Devolver Digital
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Colored beams are routed through connectors
      alt: Colored beams are routed through connectors
      markers:
        - x: 76
          'y': 30
          label: A red beam reaches its receiver
        - x: 31
          'y': 35
          label: A blue beam follows a different connection
    tips:
      - Make signals distinguishable through more than one property.
    examples:
      - title: The Talos Principle
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy,
  with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support
  specific examples, not the entire classification.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/children
---
# Distinguishing properties and signals

id: shared-family-03
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-03
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-03/

Players distinguish colour, shape, sound or another feature and use the difference to choose an action.

## At a glance

![Colored beams are routed through connectors](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-talos-principle-05.webp)

[The Talos Principle](https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. A red beam reaches its receiver
2. A blue beam follows a different connection

- Make signals distinguishable through more than one property.

- [The Talos Principle](https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/)

## How it works

Distinguish colors and shades

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-03-branch-1"></a>

- Distinguish colors and shades <a id="family-03-variant-1"></a>
- Distinguish shapes and contours <a id="family-03-variant-2"></a>
- Distinguish size and proportions <a id="family-03-variant-3"></a>
- Distinguish position and direction <a id="family-03-variant-4"></a>
- Distinguish similar symbols <a id="family-03-variant-5"></a>
- Distinguish pitch and timbre <a id="family-03-variant-6"></a>
- Distinguish rhythms <a id="family-03-variant-7"></a>
- Distinguish textures by touch <a id="family-03-variant-8"></a>
- Recognize silhouettes or fragments <a id="family-03-variant-9"></a>
- Recognize an object from another angle <a id="family-03-variant-10"></a>

## Design example

Identify an instrument by sound and select its picture.

## Context and limits

An action map for children’s digital, board, active and mixed games. An instructional goal is optional: children can invent stories, explore toys, compete or enjoy play itself. Select age suitability, reading demands, controls and pace separately; different implementations can suit different ages. Learning tasks and instructional support have their own reference.

## Context: Educational games

A mechanic map for games with explicit learning goals, from first encounters with a topic to professional practice. It covers children, teenagers and adults; choose subject, difficulty, context and controls for the learner. Player actions, subject content, instructional support and assessment are distinct layers. Scores and game completion alone do not establish mastery or skill transfer.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy, with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support specific examples, not the entire classification.

- [The Talos Principle](https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/) (id: source-e6546791156b5e83)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors