---
key: mechanic/time-world-rules--t255
type: mechanic
id: time-world-rules--t255
lang: en
title: 'Changing scale, gravity and reference frames'
summary: >-
  Changing scale or reference frames reshapes usable surfaces, distances and
  force directions.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/time-world-rules--t255/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/time-world-rules--t255.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/time-world-rules--t255.md
aliases:
  - Scale and reference frames
tags:
  - 'Time, information and world rules'
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-eceba0e40b661634
  - source-10d1df6f36fd4358
sources:
  - id: source-eceba0e40b661634
    title: 'PuzzleScript: Rules'
    url: 'https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-10d1df6f36fd4358
    title: Patrick's Parabox
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: time-world-rules
    id: t255
    title: 'Time, information and world rules'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/time-world-rules/#t255'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Scale and reference frames
    description: >-
      Changing scale or reference frames reshapes usable surfaces, distances and
      force directions.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-patrick-parabox-00.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: Patrick's Parabox
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1260520/ss_fc9994b3d063276aaaeacbc86c6d740dabeebdc0.1920x1080.jpg?t=1745611653
      credit: Patrick Traynor
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: A nested box contains accessible space
      alt: A nested box contains accessible space
      markers:
        - x: 65
          'y': 56
          label: Space inside a movable box
    tips:
      - Preserve readable landmarks after changing spatial scale.
    examples:
      - title: Patrick's Parabox
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/'
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/time-world-rules
---
# Changing scale, gravity and reference frames

id: time-world-rules--t255
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/time-world-rules--t255
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/time-world-rules--t255/

Changing scale or reference frames reshapes usable surfaces, distances and force directions.

## At a glance

![A nested box contains accessible space](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-patrick-parabox-00.webp)

[Patrick's Parabox](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Space inside a movable box

- Preserve readable landmarks after changing spatial scale.

- [Patrick's Parabox](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/)

## How it works

Changing scale or reference frames reshapes usable surfaces, distances and force directions.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t255-variants"></a>

- Shrinking opens a narrow passage. <a id="t255-v1"></a>
- Growth turns a small object into a platform. <a id="t255-v2"></a>
- Gravity rotation changes wall and floor roles. <a id="t255-v3"></a>
- Moving supports define relative velocity. <a id="t255-v4"></a>

## Design example

A player shrinks a cube for transport and enlarges it under a lever as support.

Prototype check: Test collision and velocity across scale transitions and align interface units with the selected rule.

## Context and limits

Time and space rules change action causality; the interface must show which state survives a transformation. 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 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.

- [PuzzleScript: Rules](https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html) (id: source-eceba0e40b661634)
- [Patrick's Parabox](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/) (id: source-10d1df6f36fd4358)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors