References for game design
What makes up a game.
A complete map of genres, game systems and ways to interact. Open ready references or explore the full structure. Upcoming materials are labeled “In development”.
Mechanics at a glance
A short definition and an annotated game screenshot. Broadly useful techniques come first.
Precision jumping
The player times takeoff and adjusts movement in the air to reach a safe surface and avoid hazards.
Celeste ↗
Health display
A health display shows how much damage a character can still take. Current and maximum values help the player judge the next risk.
Slay the Spire ↗
Opening doors
Acting at a door changes access to a passage. A recognizable world object becomes the transition into another area.
Hades ↗
Grid inventory
Items occupy slots. The player chooses what to store, equip or use, while empty slots show available space.
Disco Elysium ↗
Dialogue choices
The player chooses an available reply. Their answer changes the conversation, reveals information or affects a relationship.
Disco Elysium ↗
Experience and levels
Actions award experience. Reaching a threshold grants an upgrade point or level, turning repeated activity into lasting progress.
Disco Elysium ↗No matches. Try another word.
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General references
1 / 1Movement and platforming
10 / 10- Ready
2D platformers
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3D platformers
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Precision jumping and landing
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Momentum and speed preservation
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Parkour and obstacle traversal
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Climbing and holding onto surfaces
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Grappling hooks, ropes and swinging
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Flight and gliding
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Swimming and underwater movement
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Runners and obstacle courses
Melee and combat systems
10 / 10- Ready
Hand-to-hand combat and beat ’em ups
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Fighting games and duels
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Combos and character action
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Soulslikes and stamina management
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Hack and slash
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Blocking, parrying and counterattacks
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Grapples, throws and wrestling
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Crowd combat and space control
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Boss fights
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Breakable parts, injuries and conditions
Shooting and projectiles
10 / 10Stealth, infiltration and escape
8 / 8- Ready
Visibility, noise and detection
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Suspicion, alerts and searching
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Hiding bodies and traces
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Disguises and social infiltration
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Lures, distractions and sabotage
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Tailing, reconnaissance and counter-surveillance
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Heists and coordinated infiltration
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Escape, chases and evading pursuit
Exploration and adventures
10 / 10- Ready
Point-and-click adventures
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Action-adventure
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Metroidvanias
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Metroidbrainias and knowledge-based progression
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Open worlds and free exploration
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Expeditions and returning to base
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Navigation, maps and wayfinding
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Archaeology and interpreting environments
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Treasure hunting and secrets
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Walking simulators and observational exploration
Role-playing systems
10 / 10- Ready
Character creation and attribute allocation
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Classes, specializations and role switching
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Builds and ability synergies
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Party roles and team composition
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Equipment, affixes and item sets
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Status effects, elements and resistances
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Learning skills through use
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RPG grinding and repeatable loops
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Reputation, factions and alignment
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Quests, contracts and consequences
Roguelikes and run structure
8 / 8- Ready
Roguelikes and roguelites
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Traditional turn-based roguelikes
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Action roguelikes
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Survivor-likes and automatic attacks
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Dungeon crawlers and resource attrition
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Branching routes and choosing the next room
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Temporary builds, upgrade drafts and synergies
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Death, inheritance and metaprogression
Strategy games
10 / 10- Ready
Real-time strategy
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Turn-based strategy
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4X
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Grand strategy and dynasties
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Wargames and operational planning
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Real-time tactics without base building
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MOBAs and lane control
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Asymmetric factions
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Diplomacy and international relations
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Fog of war, reconnaissance and information advantage
Tactics and defense
10 / 10- Ready
Turn-based grid combat
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Initiative and action economy
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Positioning, flanking and cover
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Displacement and environmental tactics
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Planning simultaneously executed turns
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Auto battlers and roster preparation
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Tower defense
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Rerouting enemies and building mazes
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Base defense, sieges and waves
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Territory, objective and supply-line control
Economy and exchange
10 / 10- Ready
Resource extraction, transformation and consumption
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Trade and trade routes
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Supply, demand and price formation
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Markets, auctions and bidding
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Barter, negotiation and deal evaluation
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Budgets, debt and investment in a game world
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Contracts, orders and commitments
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Ownership, rent and taxes
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Scarcity, inflation and resource sinks
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Economic competition and interdependence
Organization and settlement management
10 / 10- Ready
City building
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Colonies and colonist management
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Businesses and tycoon games
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Theme parks, zoos and attractions
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Hospitals, schools and public services
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Schedules, queues and service
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Staff, skills and delegation
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Resident needs, satisfaction and conflict
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Infrastructure, zoning and adjacency
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Crises, accidents and recovery
Automation and programming
10 / 10- Ready
Production chains and factories
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Conveyors, pipes and flow distribution
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Storage, buffers and throughput
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Railways and dispatching
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Robots, drones and autonomous delivery
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Power grids and load management
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Logic circuits, signals and feedback
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Visual programming and agent commands
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Programming as a gameplay challenge
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Optimizing a production or automation system
Survival, crafting and construction
10 / 10- Ready
Hunger, thirst, temperature and fatigue
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Weather, seasons and threat preparation
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Shelters, camps and safe places
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Resource gathering and foraging
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Crafting, recipes and technology discovery
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Freeform and modular construction
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Structural integrity and destruction
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Inventory, carrying weight and packing
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Hunting, ecosystems and predator-prey relationships
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Risk, evacuation and securing loot
Activity and profession simulators
12 / 12- Ready
Farming, gardening and animal husbandry
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Cooking, recipes and kitchen work
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Fishing, hunting and harvesting trades
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Repair, disassembly and diagnosis
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Cleaning, sorting and restoration
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Construction, earthmoving and machinery
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Medicine, rescue and emergency services
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Technical incident investigation
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Document checks, inspections and control
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Delivery, dispatching and customer service
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Scientific experiments and instruments
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Business, office and bureaucracy simulators
Vehicles, racing and machinery
10 / 10- Ready
Arcade racing
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Driving simulators and car tuning
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Rally, off-road driving and traction
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Drifting, stunts and skid control
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Combat racing and pursuit
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Motorcycle racing and two-wheel balance
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Aviation and aerial combat
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Spaceflight and orbital maneuvers
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Marine vehicles and submersibles
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Rail, freight and passenger transport simulators
Sports and physical mastery
10 / 10- Ready
Team ball sports
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Racket sports
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Athletics and performance competitions
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Gymnastics, acrobatics and execution scoring
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Skateboarding, snowboarding and extreme sports
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Golf, billiards and trajectory precision
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Bowling, darts and throwing
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Combat sports
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Sports management and team training
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Fictional sports and hybrid rules
Puzzles and reasoning challenges
15 / 15- Ready
Puzzles: general reference
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Logical deduction and constraints
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Numerical, arithmetic and algebraic puzzles
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Word, language and spelling games
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Spatial transformations and geometry
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Sokoban, pushing and rearrangement
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Physics puzzles
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Routes, flows, networks and connections
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Matching, match-3 and board clearing
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Merging, combining and growing objects
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Falling blocks and spatial packing
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Hidden objects and spot-the-difference
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Codes, ciphers and decoding
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Escape rooms, locks and layered riddles
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Metapuzzles and discovering hidden rules
Cards, dice and tabletop mechanics
12 / 12- Ready
Deck building
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Pre-game deck construction
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Hand play and card management
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Drafting and shared offers
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Trick-taking, shedding and set collection
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Worker placement and action selection
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Area control, majorities and enclosure
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Tile placement and shared boards
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Dice, rerolls and result assignment
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Wagers, bluffing and pushing your luck
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Hidden orders and simultaneous selection
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Dexterity and digital tabletop toys
Narrative, dialogue and investigation
12 / 12- Ready
Visual novels
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Dialogue
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Interactive fiction and text-based actions
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Branching narratives and delayed consequences
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Detective games
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Interrogation, testimony and contradictions
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Finding, connecting and presenting evidence
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Reconstructing events and causal relationships
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Nonlinear storytelling and assembling fragments
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Procedural stories and drama systems
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Role-playing improvisation and collaborative storytelling
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Unreliable narrators and testing interpretations
Social relationships and shared play
12 / 12- Ready
Social simulations and everyday life
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Friendship, romance and attachment
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Caring for pets and dependent characters
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Negotiation, promises and trust
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Social deduction and hidden roles
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Cooperation with divided information
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Asymmetric roles and abilities
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Synchronization, item passing and joint actions
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Rescue, support and shared responsibility
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Betrayal, coalitions and temporary alliances
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Party games, trivia and collective guessing
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Local multiplayer, shared screens and shared controls
Horror and tension
8 / 8- Ready
Survival horror and limited defenses
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Hiding and escaping from threats
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Psychological horror and uncertainty
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Anomaly hunting and detecting changes
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Pursuers and adaptive behavior
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Sanctuaries, respite and tension cycles
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Sensory limitations and incomplete information
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Cooperative horror and group risk
Sound, music and rhythm
10 / 10- Ready
Voice and sound
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Beat matching and timing windows
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Performing melodies and musical phrases
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Dance and rhythmic movement
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Music composition and improvisation
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Sound recording and transformation
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Audio navigation and spatial hearing
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Echolocation and acoustic exploration
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Musical world rules and event synchronization
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Auditory recognition, memory and stream separation
Creativity, construction and free play
10 / 10- Ready
Drawing as a gameplay action
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Modeling, sculpting and shape manipulation
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Construction kits and mechanism assembly
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Decoration, interiors and landscaping
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Clothing, appearance and character design
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Photography and composition challenges
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Filming, editing and performance creation
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Sandboxes, toys and play without mandatory goals
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Creating levels, rules and modifications
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Collaborative creation and user-generated content
Progression, rewards and retention
10 / 10- Ready
Engagement and retention
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Experience, levels and development trees
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Unlocking abilities and expanding available actions
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Collections, albums and set completion
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Achievements, challenges and mastery
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Loot, rarity and reward distribution
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Idle, incremental and offline progress
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Prestige, resets and renewed progression
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Long-term projects and cumulative goals
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Daily cycles, streaks and returning to play
Time, information and world rules
12 / 12- Ready
Time loops
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Rewinding, undoing and restoring state
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Stopping, slowing and accelerating time
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Parallel timelines and causality
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Recorded actions, replays and interacting with copies
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Schedules, deadlines and timed events
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Dimension switching and parallel worlds
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Changing scale, gravity and reference frames
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Portals, topology and non-Euclidean spaces
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Changing rules and interface metagames
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Perspective switching and alternative world representations
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Unusual perception and hypothetical sensory abilities
Systemic worlds, randomness and NPC behavior
10 / 10- Ready
Systemic interactions and immersive sims
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Fire, liquids, electricity and spreading effects
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Physical materials, deformation and destruction
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Ecology, food chains and environmental recovery
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NPC behavior, goals and action selection
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Character routines, needs and memory
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Creature training and taming
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Procedural generation of levels and challenges
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Controlled randomness and predictability
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Simulated societies, populations and autonomous communities
Goals, difficulty, learning and feedback
10 / 10- Ready
Victory, defeat and alternative success conditions
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Scores, combos, multipliers and records
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Completion time, speedrunning and route optimization
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Risk-reward and voluntary challenges
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Death, penalties, checkpoints and saving
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Adaptive difficulty and player assistance
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Teaching mechanics, hints and rule discovery
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Feedback, game feel and state readability
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Inventories, maps and interfaces as play spaces
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Diegetic interfaces and in-world instruments
Traditional input devices
8 / 8Phones and built-in sensors
10 / 10- Ready
Phone camera
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Phone microphone
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Phone movement: accelerometer and gyroscope
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Phone flashlight and flash
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Phone vibration and haptic feedback
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Touchscreens and multitouch
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Phone magnetometer and compass
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Geolocation, movement and real-world orientation
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Light, proximity and other available sensors
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Multiple phones and cross-device interaction
Spatial and alternative interfaces
12 / 12- Ready
Electronic devices and instruments
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VR grabbing, gestures and hand manipulation
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VR locomotion, bodies and room-scale space
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AR and mixed reality anchored to the physical world
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Camera-based pose recognition and full-body movement
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Gaze, blinking and eye controls
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Breathing, pulse and biosignals
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Musical instruments and specialized controllers
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Steering wheels, pedals, joysticks and cockpits
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Physical objects, markers, NFC and QR
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Light, projections, surfaces and interactive installations
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Text input, commands and conversational interfaces
Children, education and accessibility
10 / 10- Ready
Children’s games
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Educational games for different ages
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Pretend play and negotiated rules
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Sensory play and material exploration
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Reading, language and communication learning
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Mathematics, science and inquiry challenges
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Professional simulators and procedural practice
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Argumentation, source verification and critical reading
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Accessible play across motor and sensory abilities
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Switch access, scanning and alternative channels
Online worlds and participation
10 / 10- Ready
Persistent worlds and shared server progress
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Guilds, clans and long-term collective goals
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Raids and multi-stage group coordination
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PvP, duels, team battles and mass combat
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Battle royale and shrinking play areas
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Asynchronous competition, ghosts and messages
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Player markets, gifts and trading
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Seasons, events and world changes
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Battle passes, in-game stores and monetization
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ARGs, transmedia and play beyond the application
These are working classifications of a design space. Families can overlap and design examples are illustrative. Sources support particular techniques and methodology.