---
key: mechanic/shared-family-10
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-10
lang: en
title: 'Patterns, analogies and rules'
summary: >-
  Players infer a recurring relationship, test it and predict the next element
  or action.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-10/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-10.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-10.md'
aliases:
  - Patterns and rules
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Structures, logic and space'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-ee038a4e63ad2ca4
sources:
  - id: source-ee038a4e63ad2ca4
    title: Hexcells
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-10
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-10'
    categoryIds:
      - logic
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-10
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-10'
    categoryIds:
      - logic
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Patterns and rules
    description: >-
      Players infer a recurring relationship, test it and predict the next
      element or action.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-hexcells-02.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: Hexcells
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/265890/ss_b011707202d23cf553d6f1aa6c68cc1c93115151.1920x1080.jpg?t=1667308643
      credit: Matthew Brown
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Numbers constrain valid cell markings
      alt: Numbers constrain valid cell markings
      markers:
        - x: 50
          'y': 41
          label: A number constrains neighboring cells
    tips:
      - Let players test an inferred rule on several independent examples.
    examples:
      - title: Hexcells
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/'
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
---
# Patterns, analogies and rules

id: shared-family-10
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-10
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-10/

Players infer a recurring relationship, test it and predict the next element or action.

## At a glance

![Numbers constrain valid cell markings](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-hexcells-02.webp)

[Hexcells](https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. A number constrains neighboring cells

- Let players test an inferred rule on several independent examples.

- [Hexcells](https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/)

## How it works

Continue a repeating pattern

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-10-branch-1"></a>

- Continue a repeating pattern <a id="family-10-variant-1"></a>
- Continue a number sequence <a id="family-10-variant-2"></a>
- Continue alternating actions <a id="family-10-variant-3"></a>
- Infer a transformation rule <a id="family-10-variant-4"></a>
- Fill a pattern gap <a id="family-10-variant-5"></a>
- Find a pattern violation <a id="family-10-variant-6"></a>
- Solve an analogy <a id="family-10-variant-7"></a>
- Complete a two-property matrix <a id="family-10-variant-8"></a>
- Infer rules from examples <a id="family-10-variant-9"></a>
- Create a pattern <a id="family-10-variant-10"></a>

## Design example

Infer a magic machine's rule from several transformations.

## 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.

- [Hexcells](https://store.steampowered.com/app/265890/) (id: source-ee038a4e63ad2ca4)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors