---
key: mechanic/shared-family-27
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-27
lang: en
title: Navigation and spatial exploration
summary: >-
  Players choose routes using landmarks, maps and discovered information,
  refining their understanding of the space.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-27/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-27.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-27.md'
aliases:
  - Navigation and exploration
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Action, construction and control'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-1696c3167e4356ed
sources:
  - id: source-1696c3167e4356ed
    title: Hollow Knight
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-27
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-27'
    categoryIds:
      - action
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-27
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-27'
    categoryIds:
      - action
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Navigation and exploration
    description: >-
      Players choose routes using landmarks, maps and discovered information,
      refining their understanding of the space.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/hollow-knight-map.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      crop:
        x: 323
        'y': 128
        width: 825
        height: 585
      game: Hollow Knight
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/367520/ss_bd76bd88bc5334ee56ae3d5f0d8dec4455e8e3b8.1920x1080.jpg?t=1776125684
      credit: Team Cherry
      rights: © Team Cherry. All rights reserved.
      caption: Connected rooms and exits to neighboring regions
      alt: >-
        Hollow Knight: a translucent Fungal Wastes map shows rooms, the player
        marker and exits to neighboring regions.
      markers:
        - x: 46
          'y': 70
          label: The marker connects the current position to the map
        - x: 72
          'y': 55
          label: A labeled exit leads to a neighboring region
    tips:
      - Connect the map to observable world landmarks.
    examples:
      - title: Hollow Knight
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/'
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
---
# Navigation and spatial exploration

id: shared-family-27
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-27
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-27/

Players choose routes using landmarks, maps and discovered information, refining their understanding of the space.

## At a glance

![Hollow Knight: a translucent Fungal Wastes map shows rooms, the player marker and exits to neighboring regions.](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/hollow-knight-map.webp)

[Hollow Knight](https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/) · © Team Cherry. All rights reserved.

1. The marker connects the current position to the map
2. A labeled exit leads to a neighboring region

- Connect the map to observable world landmarks.

- [Hollow Knight](https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/)

## How it works

Follow signs to a goal

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-27-branch-1"></a>

- Follow signs to a goal <a id="family-27-variant-1"></a>
- Follow a map <a id="family-27-variant-2"></a>
- Map while moving <a id="family-27-variant-3"></a>
- Explore unknown areas <a id="family-27-variant-4"></a>
- Choose junctions <a id="family-27-variant-5"></a>
- Use landmarks <a id="family-27-variant-6"></a>
- Find short or safe routes <a id="family-27-variant-7"></a>
- Retrace one's own route <a id="family-27-variant-8"></a>
- Open passages with tools <a id="family-27-variant-9"></a>
- Use a compass <a id="family-27-variant-10"></a>
- Locate objects outdoors <a id="family-27-variant-11"></a>
- Operate vehicles under rules <a id="family-27-variant-12"></a>

## Design example

Find a museum using a city plan and street-crossing rules.

## 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.

- [Hollow Knight](https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/) (id: source-1696c3167e4356ed)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors