---
key: mechanic/shared-family-49
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-49
lang: en
title: Open projects and creating games
summary: >-
  Players choose their own goal, build a solution from available tools and
  evaluate it within the resulting system.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-49/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-49.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-49.md'
aliases:
  - Open-ended projects
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Story, communication and creativity'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-fee3301bed8a96da
sources:
  - id: source-fee3301bed8a96da
    title: Factorio
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-49
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-49'
    categoryIds:
      - social
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-49
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-49'
    categoryIds:
      - social
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Open-ended projects
    description: >-
      Players choose their own goal, build a solution from available tools and
      evaluate it within the resulting system.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/factorio-copper-wire.webp
      width: 1224
      height: 689
      game: Factorio
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/427520/ss_37aa19e26e20e18a220fd8870dac6efb0e98b5f0.1920x1080.jpg?t=1787348817
      credit: Wube Software
      rights: © Wube Software. All rights reserved.
      caption: Copper plates become cable
      alt: >-
        Factorio: assembling machines take copper plates from one belt and
        deliver copper cable onto another.
      markers:
        - x: 29
          'y': 51
          label: 'Input: copper plates on a belt'
        - x: 53
          'y': 66
          label: The machine converts its input
        - x: 74
          'y': 50
          label: 'Output: cable for downstream consumers'
    tips:
      - Preserve the ability to choose a goal and test an individual solution.
    examples:
      - title: Factorio
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/'
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
---
# Open projects and creating games

id: shared-family-49
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-49
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-49/

Players choose their own goal, build a solution from available tools and evaluate it within the resulting system.

## At a glance

![Factorio: assembling machines take copper plates from one belt and deliver copper cable onto another.](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/factorio-copper-wire.webp)

[Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/) · © Wube Software. All rights reserved.

1. Input: copper plates on a belt
2. The machine converts its input
3. Output: cable for downstream consumers

- Preserve the ability to choose a goal and test an individual solution.

- [Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/)

## How it works

Choose personal goals

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-49-branch-1"></a>

- Choose personal goals <a id="family-49-variant-1"></a>
- Plan projects <a id="family-49-variant-2"></a>
- Create worlds <a id="family-49-variant-3"></a>
- Create levels <a id="family-49-variant-4"></a>
- Create tasks for others <a id="family-49-variant-5"></a>
- Create game rules <a id="family-49-variant-6"></a>
- Select success criteria <a id="family-49-variant-7"></a>
- Explore without preset answers <a id="family-49-variant-8"></a>
- Build portfolios <a id="family-49-variant-9"></a>
- Test with users <a id="family-49-variant-10"></a>
- Revise from feedback <a id="family-49-variant-11"></a>
- Combine tools <a id="family-49-variant-12"></a>

## Design example

Create a maze solvable in exactly ten commands.

## 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.

- [Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/) (id: source-fee3301bed8a96da)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors