---
key: mechanic/shared-family-62
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-62
lang: en
title: 'Autonomy, identity and persistent worlds'
summary: >-
  Players choose a character, role and personal goals while the world preserves
  meaningful outcomes.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-62/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-62.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-62.md'
aliases:
  - Agency and identity
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Goals, constraints and progression'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-61bf1085758a8075
sources:
  - id: source-61bf1085758a8075
    title: Pentiment
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-62
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-62'
    categoryIds:
      - progress
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-62
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-62'
    categoryIds:
      - progress
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Agency and identity
    description: >-
      Players choose a character, role and personal goals while the world
      preserves meaningful outcomes.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/dialogue-pentiment-00.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: Pentiment
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1205520/ss_115917c4fe73896ec794b7e8e1795db02f33a11b.1920x1080.jpg?t=1759874806
      credit: Obsidian Entertainment / Xbox Game Studios
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: The hero’s background affects later choices
      alt: The hero’s background affects later choices
      markers:
        - x: 29
          'y': 28
          label: Choosing Craftsman defines the hero’s background
        - x: 57
          'y': 17
          label: The explanation links background to later choices
    tips:
      - Connect the chosen identity to the world’s response.
    examples:
      - title: Pentiment
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/'
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
---
# Autonomy, identity and persistent worlds

id: shared-family-62
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-62
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-62/

Players choose a character, role and personal goals while the world preserves meaningful outcomes.

## At a glance

![The hero’s background affects later choices](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/dialogue-pentiment-00.webp)

[Pentiment](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Choosing Craftsman defines the hero’s background
2. The explanation links background to later choices

- Connect the chosen identity to the world’s response.

- [Pentiment](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/)

## How it works

Choose characters

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-62-branch-1"></a>

- Choose characters <a id="family-62-variant-1"></a>
- Customize appearance <a id="family-62-variant-2"></a>
- Choose themes or routes <a id="family-62-variant-3"></a>
- Choose task order <a id="family-62-variant-4"></a>
- Choose tools <a id="family-62-variant-5"></a>
- Choose solution methods <a id="family-62-variant-6"></a>
- Preserve constructions <a id="family-62-variant-7"></a>
- Care for characters <a id="family-62-variant-8"></a>
- Return to long projects <a id="family-62-variant-9"></a>
- Change the world through decisions <a id="family-62-variant-10"></a>
- Create personal goals <a id="family-62-variant-11"></a>
- Choose difficulty or support <a id="family-62-variant-12"></a>

## Design example

Choose a city area to restore and decide how to do it.

## 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.

- [Pentiment](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/) (id: source-61bf1085758a8075)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors