---
key: mechanic/shared-family-22
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-22
lang: en
title: 'Causes, consequences and prediction'
summary: >-
  Players predict an action’s result, test it and refine their understanding of
  the causal relationship.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-22/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-22.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-22.md'
aliases: []
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Quantity, investigation and systems'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-8a3a7e105b6c798e
sources:
  - id: source-8a3a7e105b6c798e
    title: Portal
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-22
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-22'
    categoryIds:
      - systems
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-22
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-22'
    categoryIds:
      - systems
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: 'Causes, consequences and prediction'
    description: >-
      Players predict an action’s result, test it and refine their understanding
      of the causal relationship.
    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: Buttons and indicators control a passage state
      alt: Buttons and indicators control a passage state
      markers:
        - x: 84
          'y': 59
          label: Button in the active state
        - x: 42
          'y': 25
          label: Indicator shows the condition result
    tips:
      - Let players repeat an action and compare its consequences.
    examples:
      - title: Portal
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/'
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
---
# Causes, consequences and prediction

id: shared-family-22
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-22
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-22/

Players predict an action’s result, test it and refine their understanding of the causal relationship.

## At a glance

![Buttons and indicators control a passage state](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. Button in the active state
2. Indicator shows the condition result

- Let players repeat an action and compare its consequences.

- [Portal](https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/)

## How it works

Predict an action's result

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-22-branch-1"></a>

- Predict an action's result <a id="family-22-variant-1"></a>
- Choose an action for an outcome <a id="family-22-variant-2"></a>
- Infer causes from effects <a id="family-22-variant-3"></a>
- Build causal chains <a id="family-22-variant-4"></a>
- Identify multiple causes <a id="family-22-variant-5"></a>
- Account for delayed effects <a id="family-22-variant-6"></a>
- Test alternative scenarios <a id="family-22-variant-7"></a>
- Distinguish coincidence from causation <a id="family-22-variant-8"></a>
- Find side effects <a id="family-22-variant-9"></a>
- Find feedback in a system <a id="family-22-variant-10"></a>

## Design example

Predict which garden area loses water after a valve closes.

## 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.

- [Portal](https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/) (id: source-8a3a7e105b6c798e)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors