---
key: mechanic/shared-family-44
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-44
lang: en
title: 'Story, roles and character decisions'
summary: >-
  Players make decisions as a character; the story responds through events,
  relationships or available actions.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-44/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-44.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-44.md'
aliases:
  - 'Story, roles and decisions'
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Story, communication and creativity'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-8fcf1671c353b49b
sources:
  - id: source-8fcf1671c353b49b
    title: Disco Elysium
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/632470/Disco_Elysium__The_Final_Cut/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-44
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-44'
    categoryIds:
      - social
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-44
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-44'
    categoryIds:
      - social
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: 'Story, roles and decisions'
    description: >-
      Players make decisions as a character; the story responds through events,
      relationships or available actions.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/disco-elysium-dialogue.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      crop:
        x: 563
        'y': 38
        width: 825
        height: 712
      game: Disco Elysium
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/632470/Disco_Elysium__The_Final_Cut/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/632470/ss_23836438cd455287232be5ae9c4f48d5c488967b.1920x1080.jpg?t=1780913406
      credit: ZA/UM
      rights: © ZA/UM. All rights reserved.
      caption: Choosing a reply within a conversation
      alt: Choosing a reply within a conversation
      markers:
        - x: 79
          'y': 72
          label: Choose from the available replies
        - x: 79
          'y': 36
          label: Conversation context before the decision
    tips:
      - Express a choice’s meaning through dialogue wording and context.
    examples:
      - title: Disco Elysium
        url: >-
          https://store.steampowered.com/app/632470/Disco_Elysium__The_Final_Cut/
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
---
# Story, roles and character decisions

id: shared-family-44
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-44
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-44/

Players make decisions as a character; the story responds through events, relationships or available actions.

## At a glance

![Choosing a reply within a conversation](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/disco-elysium-dialogue.webp)

[Disco Elysium](https://store.steampowered.com/app/632470/Disco_Elysium__The_Final_Cut/) · © ZA/UM. All rights reserved.

1. Choose from the available replies
2. Conversation context before the decision

- Express a choice’s meaning through dialogue wording and context.

- [Disco Elysium](https://store.steampowered.com/app/632470/Disco_Elysium__The_Final_Cut/)

## How it works

Choose dialogue

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-44-branch-1"></a>

- Choose dialogue <a id="family-44-variant-1"></a>
- Choose actions <a id="family-44-variant-2"></a>
- Fulfill role duties <a id="family-44-variant-3"></a>
- Investigate stories <a id="family-44-variant-4"></a>
- Reconstruct character motives <a id="family-44-variant-5"></a>
- Change viewpoints <a id="family-44-variant-6"></a>
- Observe decision consequences <a id="family-44-variant-7"></a>
- Play alternative episodes <a id="family-44-variant-8"></a>
- Perform professional roles <a id="family-44-variant-9"></a>
- Advance stories through tasks <a id="family-44-variant-10"></a>
- Resolve dilemmas <a id="family-44-variant-11"></a>
- Match actions to role and context <a id="family-44-variant-12"></a>

## Design example

Act as a park ranger investigating the animals' water shortage.

## 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.

- [Disco Elysium](https://store.steampowered.com/app/632470/Disco_Elysium__The_Final_Cut/) (id: source-8fcf1671c353b49b)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors