To run a successful game there are several features and game mechanics that can help you get the most out of your game. In this article we will look at several of these and provide a brief explanation of how they work. We won't have time now to go into deep explanations and examples of each - but where appropriate we will provide links to more details.
Harvest Mechanic
The harvest mechanic is one of the more common mechanics found in today’s game app market. The basic loop can be explained in the following steps:
- Purchasing or placing an object onto your game board that is not yet ready for use
- Wait for a predesignated space of time for the object to become useful (for example 5 minutes, 24 hours, etc).
- Use the object within your game.
Some games also implement an expiration aspect to this new object. This addition stipulates that the object becomes useless again if not used within x amount of time of becoming useful.
Read More: Variations on the Harvest Mechanic
Although the harvest mechanic is not directly related to farming, one of the most well known uses of the harvest mechanic was that of the game FarmVille. The harvest mechanic got its name from the time required to benefit from the item becoming useful.
Watch 2 Earn Mechanic
The watch 2 earn mechanic is more of a revenue stream than an actual app or game mechanic. The basic premise is that your users give you a certain amount of their time (let’s say 30 seconds) to watch or view a special advertisement. In return, you provide them with some in game currency or a premium item.
Read More: What is Watch 2 Earn
The watch 2 earn mechanic doesn’t have to be just video ads. You could also tie in the basic aspects of your app that might not be as popular and require more user effort.
Think of the concept more as “Do XYZ task for us and get a reward”. An example of this could be a new review or comments aspect of your app that needs user support to jump start it. You can provide your users with some in game currency or reward for their help in jump starting a new feature.
Buildable Mechanic
The buildable mechanic is another great game mechanic that is very common in the invest and express genre of games. In short, you provide a mechanism for your users to take one or more of their in game items and combine them into a better item.
Read More: The Buildable Game Mechanic
Most games require a “baking period” of time to elapse for the new item to become useful, while others make the item available immediately. Think of it like adding ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, etc) to make a cake. Some cakes are no-bake cakes, while others require cooking in the oven.
Collectable Mechanic
The collectable mechanic is a feature that games often include to help add more depth feature variety into their games. It is a great mechanic to help reward the longer term players with unique benefits and rewards.
The collectable mechanic is very similar to the buildable mechanic in that you allow your users to collect unique items and exchange them for a more premium item or special reward. For example if you collect the blue star, green star and red star, you will be rewarded with the premium gold star.
The way that the collectable mechanic differs from the buildable mechanic is that sometimes games only allow you to collect each set one time. In addition, collectables are often redeemed immediately while buildables often are not. We have also found that collectables are generally considered more unique and rare, while buildables are considered more common and consumable.
Energy Mechanic
The energy mechanic is on of the oldest and best known game mechanics. Think back to the early Nintendo days with Super Mario Bros. As you played you had x number of lives. Once you ran out of lives, the game was over.
Hill Climb is a distance game that allows you to drive a car for as you have gas available. As you pass checkpoints you get more gas, but once you are out of gas, the game is over. The energy mechanic allows game designers to help limit and throttle the gameplay adding an element of skill and difficulty into the game.
Read More: Why is an Energy Mechanic so Important
Many app developers also use this mechanic as a revenue stream as they can charge their users for "extra energy” to continue game play. Imagine playing Super Mario Bros and loosing your last life while fighting the final boss. If you were offered an extra life for $0.25 - would you take it?
Consumable Mechanic
The consumable mechanic is another long standing mechanic found in a wide variety of games. In fact it is also found employed by many other mechanics as well.
The basic idea of a consumable within a game is that it is an item that you own for a temporary period of time and eventually gets used.
Maybe it is used to help further gameplay (such as energy) or maybe it is used to trade in for other items (such as a collectable or buildable). Or maybe it is the currency of the game such as the chips within a poker or slots style casino game.
Although consumables do not fit into every single game and genre, if you can add consumables into your game, you are able to then create an in game economy.
Fight Mechanic
For a game who’s sole purpose is fighting (for example an FPS or Sports Boxing game), then the concept of a fight mechanic might be a little generic as your entire gameplay has to center around a very complex fighting and matching loop. However for other games, adding a small fight mechanic can help to add diversity, skill and challenge into your game.
Some games add PVP style fighting (player vs player) where you actually match up against another player either in real time or in an offline fashion. Other games may employ a progression style fighting path where each enemy you meet along the path gets progressively harder and more challenging. A lot of tower defense genre games actually employ both methods to allow their users diversity in their fighting approaches.
