---
key: mechanic/systemic-worlds--t262
type: mechanic
id: systemic-worlds--t262
lang: en
title: 'Physical materials, deformation and destruction'
summary: >-
  Materials determine responses to force and damage; deformation and destruction
  create a new interaction structure.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/systemic-worlds--t262/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/systemic-worlds--t262.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/systemic-worlds--t262.md
aliases:
  - 'Materials, deformation and destruction'
tags:
  - 'Systemic worlds, randomness and NPC behavior'
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-3817d420df0baa92
  - source-4ef7f765b3c929c4
sources:
  - id: source-3817d420df0baa92
    title: 'Robert Nystrom: State'
    url: >-
      https://github.com/munificent/game-programming-patterns/blob/master/book/state.markdown
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-4ef7f765b3c929c4
    title: Noita
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations:
  - type: uses
    direction: outgoing
    label: Sources in the selection
    key: resource/state-pattern
    title: 'State: Game Programming Patterns'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-state-pattern'
    jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.json'
    markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.md'
placements:
  - catalogId: systemic-worlds
    id: t262
    title: 'Systemic worlds, randomness and NPC behavior'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/systemic-worlds/#t262'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: 'Materials, deformation and destruction'
    description: >-
      Materials determine responses to force and damage; deformation and
      destruction create a new interaction structure.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-noita-06.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: Noita
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/881100/ss_a2797d36d19106bde83824e84dfb6694aeed6bba.1920x1080.jpg?t=1675987871
      credit: Nolla Games
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Lava flows between solid walls
      alt: Lava flows between solid walls
      markers:
        - x: 67
          'y': 41
          label: Liquid material follows an open path
    tips:
      - Connect a material’s appearance to its predictable response.
    examples:
      - title: Noita
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on
  2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design
  examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests.
  Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not
  every proposed variant.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/systemic-worlds
---
# Physical materials, deformation and destruction

id: systemic-worlds--t262
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/systemic-worlds--t262
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/systemic-worlds--t262/

Materials determine responses to force and damage; deformation and destruction create a new interaction structure.

## At a glance

![Lava flows between solid walls](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-noita-06.webp)

[Noita](https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Liquid material follows an open path

- Connect a material’s appearance to its predictable response.

- [Noita](https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/)

## How it works

Materials determine responses to force and damage; deformation and destruction create a new interaction structure.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t262-variants"></a>

- Elasticity restores shape after a load. <a id="t262-v1"></a>
- Plasticity preserves a dent after contact. <a id="t262-v2"></a>
- Brittleness splits objects above a threshold. <a id="t262-v3"></a>
- Fragments inherit selected original properties. <a id="t262-v4"></a>

## Design example

A thin panel bends open while a glass divider breaks into separate obstacles.

Prototype check: Test traversal and fragment interactions after saving and loading a destroyed scene.

## Context and limits

A systemic world applies shared rules to multiple objects so players can predict new combinations from known interactions. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map.

## Connected materials

- Sources in the selection: [State: Game Programming Patterns](https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-state-pattern) (key: resource/state-pattern)

## Sources and provenance

Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.

- [Robert Nystrom: State](https://github.com/munificent/game-programming-patterns/blob/master/book/state.markdown) (id: source-3817d420df0baa92)
- [Noita](https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/) (id: source-4ef7f765b3c929c4)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors