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65 Minutes of Cool Game Mechanics — Transcript

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0:00Now, what you are about to watch is over
0:02an hour's worth of cool mechanics from
0:06over 50 different games, which range
0:08from indies, which you'll never heard of
0:11and probably never would have heard of
0:12without this video, to big AAA titles.
0:15With the idea for game developers to
0:17create a video that can give them loads
0:20of inspiration, loads of ideas, just
0:22loads of exposure to so many different
0:24cool mechanics in different games
0:25without the need to dedicate the time to
0:28playing each one of them. And for gamers
0:29and games enthusiasts, hopefully you
0:31come away from this video with a few
0:32games you want to pick up and play.
0:34Anyway, sit back, relax, and enjoy. Mini
0:37Mini Golf Golf is the most interesting
0:39and bizarre game I've played all year.
0:41The demo is out now, and I urge you to
0:43play it for yourself, so I won't spoil
0:45it here. I do, however, want to talk
0:48about the cool mechanic, which is the
0:49mini golf puzzle mechanic. The core of
0:52the game is centered around completing
0:53mini golf courses, which is really
0:55basic, especially the way it's
0:56implemented in this game. But the idea
0:58is actually to pay attention to FMV
1:01videos on the main screen to figure out
1:03how to complete courses in specific ways
1:06to unlock the next parts of the
1:08narrative. You can switch between
1:09multiple screens of videos using a dial,
1:12and then once you have discovered a
1:14hint, you hit the screen on the Steam
1:16Deck to play through the levels. [music]
1:18Not all levels work like this, though.
1:20Some are puzzles within themselves
1:22without needing to watch the FMV clips
1:24where you have to hit a ball in specific
1:26places or a specific amount of times,
1:28for example. Mini golf games are often
1:31relatively similar with the courses and
1:33physics being the main thing that
1:34differentiates them. With mini Mini Golf
1:37Golf, with this one design concept of
1:39marrying mini golf and narrative- based
1:40puzzles together really breaks the mold
1:43and shows that games can be so much more
1:45than their apparent genre. One cool
1:47mechanic in Viewfinder is how the
1:49perspective mechanic works. Similar to a
1:51game like Super Liminal, Viewfinder uses
1:53the real-time location and rotation of
1:54the player's camera and whilst
1:56referencing the location and rotation of
1:57the objects which can be affected,
1:59checks to see if the camera is looking
2:00at those objects in particular ways. If
2:03they are, then it triggers an event
2:04which is usually a spawn of assets into
2:06the world, creating a really interesting
2:08and unique effect, which is undeniably
2:10cool. One cool mechanic in Wheel World
2:12is the way the boost works. Like in a
2:14lot of racing games, you have a boost.
2:16However, it's the way the player gains
2:18boost which is really interesting. You
2:20gain boost by getting air time by near
2:22misses or crashes. Basically, anytime
2:25you go off road, your chances of getting
2:27a boost increases. What this does is it
2:29rewards players that are trying to go
2:32fast by cutting corners or finding
2:34shortcuts anyway by giving them a boost
2:36to go even faster. This is a classic
2:38case of synergistic design which works
2:40really well for this title. One cool
2:42mechanic in Wizardom is how the
2:44progression system works and how it's
2:46balanced more importantly. So, Wizdom is
2:48a boomer shooter with roglike elements.
2:50Those elements being paid upgrades
2:52between runs, which is pretty
2:53run-of-the-mill. However, it's how those
2:55paid upgrades actually work in practice.
2:58When playing Wizardom, if you just rush
3:00through and just go to the quest marker
3:02at any chance you get, you'll find out
3:04pretty quickly that it's going to take a
3:05while for you to be able to afford the
3:07upgrades you need. The player really
3:08needs to explore, find hidden areas,
3:11take on optional combat and enemies, and
3:13even find a goblin Santa like creature
3:15that appears occasionally with a big bag
3:18of gold. Note with the last one, you
3:19need to kill him quick or he is out of
3:22here. The reason I wanted to call this
3:24out is because I can't remember the last
3:26time a boomer shooter, new or old, has
3:29ever made me this hungry for
3:30exploration, and I think it's down to
3:32the balancing and level design in
3:34Wizard. Eats is the first game released
3:36by Clay Entertainment, who previously
3:38made Don't Starve Together and I should
3:40not include it. Eats is a game where you
3:42have to get a unit from one point of the
3:44level to a jigsaw piece, but you can't
3:46directly control what he does. Instead,
3:49you have to use objects like whales to
3:51swallow him up and then spit him out to
3:53a different part of the level or to
3:55change the level via moving things
3:56around and blowing stuff up. However,
3:58the cool mechanic I want to talk about
3:59is actually the other way you can
4:01manipulate the AI of eats. Via placing
4:04different objects, you can change his
4:06mood. For example, to stop him from
4:08blindly jumping off a cliff, which is
4:09what he will do by default, you can
4:11place this little green guy to give him
4:14fear. If you want him to attack
4:15something, you can make him angry by
4:17chucking these little orange things at
4:19him. Just the fact that his AI state,
4:21which is what behaviors he does, is
4:23manipulatable by the player is by itself
4:26cool. But what is also cool is the fact
4:28that his behavior stays the same between
4:31levels. Meaning if the solution was fear
4:34the previous level, you have to deal
4:36with the fact that he is going to have
4:37fear at the start of the next level. So
4:39that becomes part of the puzzle and adds
4:41an extra layer to the goal of each
4:43level. It's not just to guess a jigsaw
4:45piece, but also to potentially change
4:47his behavior before he reaches it to
4:50something easier to deal with. One cool
4:52mechanic in Dungeon Clorer is the claw
4:54machine. Dungeon Clawer is a roglike
4:56deck builder where all your actions are
4:57dictated by what you pull from the claw
5:00machine. If you pull a sword, you do
5:01damage. If you pull a shield, you
5:03protect yourself from damage on the
5:04enemy's turn. However, what's really
5:06cool is how the game really uses the
5:08claw machine. For example, there's one
5:09item, which is a stone brick, and every
5:11metal item close to it is buffed.
5:13There's another item which adds useless
5:14fluff to the machine every time you use
5:16it. There's also enemies which increase
5:18the size of certain items every time
5:19they are left alive to make it harder to
5:21grab what you need. The placement of
5:23items in the claw machine is actually
5:24really, really important. The grabbing
5:26itself as well can also be a real
5:28nailbiter, as you might just need that
5:30one shield or that one sword to save
5:32you, and it lands right outside the goal
5:34zone. There are many ways to do
5:35randomness in games, cards, dice, or
5:38just RNG, but I've never seen a game say
5:40to the player, "Hey, if you can see it,
5:42you can grab it." It really is a cool
5:44mechanic. One cool mechanic in debugging
5:46hero is the debug tool, which allows you
5:48to change the stats of yourself and
5:51enemies. Anyone familiar with game devs
5:53knows about a debug tool, a tool used to
5:55change variables in the game to test out
5:57different features. The way this games
5:58allows you to change variables is
6:00through variable cards on the fly
6:03midfight. You can access these cards,
6:05target enemies or yourself, and add or
6:07subtract stats to make you or your
6:08enemies stronger or weaker. Adding deck
6:10building to a dungeon crawler isn't
6:12really something new, but the way this
6:14game incorporates a really fun idea with
6:16on the-fly card playing is really cool,
6:18and contextualizing it around a player
6:20feeling like they are actually going
6:22into the game's code and manipulating it
6:24is really, really interesting. One cool
6:26mechanic in Rematch is how the positions
6:28work. Firstly, there are only really two
6:30positions in Rematch, outfielder and
6:32goalkeeper. The distinction between
6:34outfielders pretty much stops at where
6:36they spawn on kickoff as the pitch is so
6:38small and the players can change
6:39positions so quickly. However, with the
6:41goalkeeper, you have completely unique
6:43controls and unique responsibility. So,
6:45with this in mind, how does rematch
6:47allow players to play how they want to
6:49play. Unlike other football games,
6:50rematch doesn't allow you to select your
6:52preferred position. Instead, it does two
6:54things. It rotates positions with every
6:56kickoff, meaning if there is five
6:58kickoffs in a 5v5 game, every player
7:00would have played every position once.
7:02And if the goalkeeper leaves the area,
7:04then the next player to enter that area
7:06becomes the goalkeeper. This second
7:08point is an amazing mechanic as it
7:09allows for two outcomes. Firstly, if the
7:11goalkeeper goes on a mad one, you can
7:13still have a goalkeeper by just going in
7:15goal yourself. And secondly, if your
7:17perverted position is goalkeeper, you
7:19can just simply swap with the person in
7:21there at every kickoff. This is such a
7:23simple mechanic, but it really adds a
7:25lot of flexibility and player choice
7:26which would have otherwise gone a miss.
7:28One cool mechanic in Gritshot is how the
7:31perks and stickers work. So, Gritshot is
7:33a game where it takes the feeling of
7:35playing that basketball game at the
7:36arcade we all played as a kid and adds
7:38the pizzazz you can expect in the genre
7:41inspired by Bellatra. One of those
7:42pizzazz mechanics is the perk and
7:44sticker system. So, just before I
7:46explain the perk system and the sticker
7:48system, when you shoot your shot at the
7:50basket, it works as a quick time event.
7:52The closer you get to the center of that
7:54quick time event, i.e. the purple
7:55section, the more points you get when
7:58you score. You also have only five
8:00seconds to make this shot. Now, that is
8:02important. Perks are passive effects,
8:05which usually relate to increasing the
8:07value of or making it easier to hit
8:09these different sections of the QTE, and
8:11those are symbolized by items at the
8:13bottom of the machine. It can make any
8:15section give you more points than other
8:17sections, which could drastically change
8:19your strategy depending on how you want
8:21to build your perks. The stickers though
8:23are really cool. The way these work is
8:26that you buy them from the shop and
8:27attach them to specific balls. When it's
8:30time for that ball to be thrown, the QT
8:32bar also has that sticker on it. In
8:35order to activate that sticker and its
8:37abilities, which can give you a whole
8:39bunch of different benefits from
8:40different molts to more time to more
8:42money, you need to also hit that
8:44sticker. This is great for two reasons.
8:47Due to the time restriction, it can get
8:50really intense, especially if that
8:51sticker and the QT area are really far
8:53apart from one another on the bar, and
8:55especially if the sticker is past the QT
8:57area. And secondly, it's just great
8:59design to synergize these two systems
9:01together. It would have been so easy for
9:04this to just be passive, but the
9:06designer thought they would work better
9:08if the stickers were a part of the main
9:10gameplay experience, which I think is
9:12great. One cool mechanic in Monster
9:14Train 2 is how the train works. It can
9:16sometimes be a struggle for digital car
9:18games to get new players thinking
9:20multiple turns ahead. But the train
9:22itself is a great way that the game
9:24helps the player do this. The way the
9:26train works is that monsters enter the
9:28train at the bottom level and at the end
9:29of every turn, if the monster is still
9:31alive, they will move up a level on the
9:33train. The player can place units on any
9:35level of the train at any point. And as
9:37they know that monsters will move up a
9:39level at the end of every turn, this is
9:40a great visual aid to allow them to plan
9:42ahead. They might start off with placing
9:44units to keep monsters busy at the
9:46bottom levels of the train and use
9:47special units as almost like a trap near
9:49the top, for example. On top of this,
9:51the player's health is located at the
9:53top of the train. If the monster gets to
9:54the same level as the health, they will
9:55start doing damage to it. Further
9:57motivating the player to think
9:58strategically about where and when they
10:00place their units. The lesson to take
10:02away from Monster Train 2 is that if
10:03you're struggling to get the player
10:04behavior that you want, try to visualize
10:06it for them. One cool mechanic in South
10:09of Midnight is how the wall running
10:11works. Wall running has been around for
10:13ages. You jump on a wall, run for a bit,
10:15and jump off the wall before you fall
10:17off. With South of Midnight, though, it
10:19works differently. Using the character's
10:21hooks, not only can you run on a wall,
10:23but you can also move down and up. This
10:26allows the player to firstly not fall
10:28off the wall, but secondly, choose the
10:30height from which they jump off of the
10:31wall. Now, this is a cool mechanic
10:33simply because it takes a mechanic which
10:35has been done in so many games and puts
10:37a cool spin on it, and it's executed
10:39really well. Another cool mechanic in
10:41Hollow Knight is the way the knockback
10:43works. Whenever the player hits
10:44something with their nail, they are
10:46knocked back. Like in a lot of 2D games
10:48which have melee attacks, on the
10:49surface, this is used to sell the impact
10:52of the hit. However, one somewhat hidden
10:54aspect of this knockback feature is that
10:56the knockback works in all cardinal
10:58directions, meaning that the knockback
10:59can actually be used to platform and not
11:02just platform environmental obstacles,
11:03but enemies as well. Once the player
11:05realizes this, it blasts open a wide
11:08range of movement possibilities when
11:10exploring and when in combat. This is
11:12truly a cool mechanic because it simply
11:14applies a bit of force to the sprite,
11:16but in actuality, it adds so much more
11:18to the gameplay experience. This is the
11:20type of mechanic every dev should strive
11:22for. One cool mechanic in Celeste is how
11:25the dash works. Dashing in Celeste is
11:28essential for traversing through the
11:29tricky levels the player faces. However,
11:31one constant problem the player will
11:33face is the fact that you only get one
11:35dash until you land. Now, as the game
11:37progresses, feet touching the ground
11:39gets more and more of an ask, and
11:41planning ahead at a time and figuring
11:42out when your net's going to get to
11:44solid ground is a must for the player.
11:46The dash reset alongside a tight level
11:48design really makes every level feel
11:50like a puzzle. However, there is one
11:52hidden mechanic in Celeste, [music]
11:54which you might not know about. Celeste
11:56uses a camera and level segmenting
11:58technique that uses transitions [music]
11:59from one screen to another. Once you get
12:01to the end of a section, the camera
12:03transitions to the new section. Now,
12:04another rule with the camera transition
12:06is that the player always starts with
12:08their dash available, even if they have
12:10just used it, and [music] even if they
12:12haven't touched the ground yet. This
12:13little wrinkle allows players to do some
12:15really remarkable things for impossible
12:18beforehand. No new system, no new
12:20mechanic, just two mechanics working
12:22together to create more than the sum of
12:24their parts. One cool mechanic in Death
12:26Stranding 2 is the weather system. Many
12:28games have weather systems, of course,
12:30but the weather system in Death
12:31Stranding 2 is the most impactful and
12:33reactive weather system that I've ever
12:35seen. If you don't know, the entire
12:36point of the gameplay of Death Stranding
12:38is to get from point A to B. How you
12:40navigate through the environment is up
12:42to you. In Death Shawn in one though,
12:44the terrain was tricky and interesting
12:45enough. Backtracking to and from the
12:47same points could become a bit
12:49repetitive because the terrain is always
12:51the same. The weather system in Death
12:52Shining 2 fixes that. If it rains,
12:55rivers which weren't there before now
12:56become obstacles. The plane of desert
12:58that you've crossed three or four times
13:00could suddenly be hit by a sandstorm.
13:01You can even get hit by lightning if you
13:03choose to brave certain weather
13:04conditions. Bottom line, the new weather
13:06system in Death Shawning 2 works simply
13:08because it adds variety to the puzzle
13:10that is getting from point A to B, which
13:13is cool. One cool mechanic in Super Meat
13:15Boy is what is left behind every time
13:17you die. Super Meat Boy is a twitchy and
13:20quite difficult platformer that relies
13:21on the player trying over and over again
13:24to land pixel perfect jumps. One subtle
13:26yet incredibly useful tool the devs give
13:28the player is the fact that Meat Boy not
13:30only leaves a big blood splatter on any
13:32surface that kills him, but he also
13:34leaves a trail of blood on the ground as
13:36he moves. This gives the player the path
13:38used on every previous attempt, allowing
13:40them to easily jump that one pixel
13:42earlier or hold the jump button half a
13:44second longer. Without this mechanic,
13:46the game would surely be 10 times
13:48harder. So, I think we can all be
13:50grateful that it was included. One cool
13:51mechanic in AI in the Blind Forest is
13:53the bash ability. The bash ability
13:55allows AI to propel themselves in the
13:57direction they are aiming, which is
13:59pretty cool. But what's really cool is
14:01how the player activates it. The player
14:03can use bash if close to lanterns that
14:05are dotted around the level, enemies
14:07that try to attack AI, and projectiles
14:09that enemies fire. And not only that,
14:11but when AI uses bash and projectiles or
14:13enemies, it sends them flying in the
14:15other direction. This mechanic is so
14:16much more than the sum of its parts.
14:18It's incredibly useful and a satisfying
14:20tool for movement, but it's also great
14:22for combat and solving puzzles. One cool
14:24mechanic in Ghostrunner is the deflect
14:26mechanic. The deflect mechanic in
14:27Ghostrunner essentially works as a parry
14:29as most enemies, especially early on,
14:31shoot slower moving projectile bullets
14:33and the player has about a half second
14:35window to use their melee attack to
14:37deflect the bullet due to the player
14:38constantly playing a one-touch game,
14:40meaning any amount of damage will insta
14:42kill them. The deflect works as a last
14:44resort tool. If the player has
14:45positioned themselves poorly or their
14:47dash is on cooldown or simply an enemy
14:49has just surprised them, getting off a
14:51perfectly timed deflect can be one of
14:52the best feelings you can experience
14:54while playing a game. One cool mechanic
14:56in Peak is a stamina bar. Like many
14:58others, peak takes inspiration from the
15:00Breath of the Wild. Your aim is to climb
15:02to the well peak of the mountain, and
15:04you're only limited by your stamina bar.
15:06However, it's how the stamina bar can be
15:08affected by different things which makes
15:10it really interesting. The stamina bar
15:12also works as your health bar. So, if
15:14you take damage, it takes a chunk of
15:15your stamina away. If you get hungry as
15:17you climb, your hunger takes away some
15:19of the stamina. If you get poisoned,
15:21that also takes away some stamina. And
15:22the weight of your gear can take away
15:24stamina, too. All of these different
15:26aspects are also cured in different
15:28ways. Health is cured by bandages.
15:30Hunger is cured by food. Removing weight
15:32is cured by well, getting rid of
15:33resources. The fact that different
15:35things remove stamina in different ways,
15:37and you need different solutions for
15:38each of them means that the game has a
15:40bunch of tools to motivate the player to
15:42head off in different directions whilst
15:44they climb the mountain. Not only is the
15:46mountain a big puzzle to solve, but so
15:48is managing your stamina. All because of
15:50this one cool mechanic. Another cool
15:52mechanic in Silk Song is the clamber.
15:54Being able to clamber onto ledges
15:56firstly and more obviously makes the
15:57platforming challenges slightly easier
15:59as you can technically just miss a jump
16:01but still pull yourself up. However,
16:03it's how the clamber works with the
16:04other systems as well as the levels
16:06which make it really interesting.
16:07Firstly, due to Hornet's five
16:09directional combat movement where her
16:10down attacks can only be diagonal, the
16:12clamber allows for more fluidity when
16:14combined with these attacks, and it
16:16gives the player a bit more freedom to
16:17perform these actions, especially
16:19midair. Secondly, the clamber allows for
16:21levels to feel a bit less cluttered when
16:22it comes to platforms. platforms can be
16:24a bit higher up and a bit further apart,
16:26allowing there to be more space for the
16:28background art to shine, but also for
16:30enemies to maneuver, which overall just
16:32gives the game a subtle amount of
16:33breathing room, which the player might
16:35not notice, but they should definitely
16:36feel. One cool mechanic in Eyes of the
16:38Elderwood is how the magic works. So,
16:40you start off the game with a gun given
16:42to you by a frog in a swamp, of course.
16:45However, if you try left click, your
16:47hand will start pointing with purple
16:49emitting from the finger. Weird. Then,
16:51if you right click, you will shoot. So,
16:53the question in the player's mind is
16:54what does leftclick actually do at this
16:57point? After a while, you will then
16:58stumble across some torn pieces of
17:00paper. On the back of them shows a shape
17:02and a clue as to what that shape means.
17:05Sure enough, if you draw that shape with
17:06your left hand, you will be able to cast
17:09spells. That alone is a cool mechanic.
17:11It's not completely unique, but a very
17:13well done and immersive implementation
17:15of spellcasting. But on top of that,
17:17it's the fact that you dual wield magic
17:19and a revolver at once, which for me is
17:21just great. One cool mechanic in Lumines
17:23Arise is how the game rethinks point
17:25scoring. In Lumines Arise, to score
17:27points, you have to create two by two
17:29blocks of the same color. Pretty simple.
17:31However, those blocks aren't scored and
17:33removed immediately. Instead, a timeline
17:35that sweeps across the screen in time
17:37with the music scores 2x two or bigger
17:39blocks whenever it hits them. That means
17:41that there is a time element to scoring
17:42and placement, as the bigger you make
17:44these blocks, the more points you get.
17:45This not only incentivizes a player
17:47behavior to be quick with building up
17:49blocks to be as big as possible as soon
17:51as the timeline passes a certain point,
17:53but it also incentivizes thinking ahead
17:55as when blocks are removed, the blocks
17:57above fall down, potentially creating
17:58even bigger blocks that you can build
18:00on. A great example of an incredibly
18:02simple mechanic that creates a lot of
18:03depth. One cool mechanic in Demon School
18:05is just how many features the game gives
18:07you to plan the most optimal round you
18:09can. So firstly, in the planning phase,
18:11you have an option to rewind any move.
18:13You can do this any number of times
18:15right to the start of the first move in
18:17that round, which is unlimited freedom,
18:19which I don't see too often. Secondly,
18:21there are no restrictions on character
18:23order, meaning that you have more tools
18:24in your arsenal to combine moves and
18:26attacks in different ways. And thirdly,
18:28the player has complete knowledge of how
18:30friendly and enemy characters work,
18:32their stats, their abilities, their
18:33strengths and weaknesses, etc. This all
18:35leads to a situation where the player
18:37isn't trying to figure out how to defeat
18:38enemies, but how to defeat enemies the
18:40best way they can possibly defeat them.
18:42This is a core tenant of combat,
18:43obviously justified by the turn number
18:45target for each fight. If you win the
18:47fight before or on this turn number, you
18:50get a bonus, which really elevates
18:52everything I've just mentioned. One cool
18:54mechanic in Fez is the fact that you can
18:55rotate the camera, turning a 2D platform
18:58into a temporarily 3D platformer. The
19:00idea with this mechanic is that objects
19:02which take up a certain space from one
19:04perspective take up a different space
19:06from another perspective. This is
19:07because their depth is perceived but not
19:10actually a thing, if that makes sense.
19:12So, as some parts of the level move
19:14closer or further away from the camera
19:16due to the rotation, they become closer
19:18or further from the center of the
19:20screen, which increases or decreases the
19:23distance in between those and other
19:26parts of the level. Now, there is no
19:27doubt how much of an impact Fez has had
19:29on the indie scene in the early 2010s.
19:31from how great it looks to its story to
19:33its appearance in Indie Game the movie.
19:35But one thing is for sure, this mechanic
19:37and how it completely shifts the
19:38perspective of the player from one
19:40rotation to the next opens up so many
19:42possibilities and actual executions of
19:44some amazing puzzles and platforming.
19:46One cool mechanic in High Guard is the
19:48shield breaker. The shield breaker is a
19:50sword that spawns 2 minutes after the
19:52start of the game or after a successful
19:54defense of a base. The shield breaker is
19:56used to break the shield of an
19:58opponent's base and spawns in
19:59predetermined spots on the map. All
20:01players are alerted to its spawn
20:03location ahead of time. So, one thing it
20:05does really well is it centralizes
20:07combat from a wide open map to tightly
20:09defined arena style levels within the
20:12map. Then, once the player has the
20:13sword, combat becomes way more dynamic.
20:16Combat happens around the sword bearer.
20:18So, depending on where they are in the
20:20level, combat can be wildly different.
20:22This works so well because as soon as
20:25the player plants the sword in the
20:26shield, the enemy team is at a massive
20:29disadvantage, resulting in both teams
20:31frenzying to stop or guarantee the sword
20:34reaching the shield. Super cool. One
20:36cool mechanic in a certain incremental
20:38exoplanet is the way the economy works
20:41and the choices it gives you. So, like
20:42in a lot of incremental games, you gain
20:44currency and you spend that currency in
20:47any which way you want and that can
20:49affect how you incrementally progress
20:51down certain paths. The way it works in
20:53Exoplanet is that you spend cubits to
20:54pay for quantum chips. Those quantum
20:57chips can then be used in three ways.
20:59Firstly, they can be used to just
21:01increase the amount of cubits you get,
21:02the main currency. Second way is by
21:04increasing rocket production for
21:06fighting enemies which show up in waves.
21:08And thirdly, they can be used to
21:10increase data mining production, which
21:12less directly increases the speed of
21:14either cubit production or data mining
21:17production. The game is built out. So,
21:18of course, you always want to maintain
21:20your core currency production and
21:22improve it over time, especially as it
21:24leads to the prestige system at the end
21:26of the game. But as enemies get tougher,
21:28you want to make more rockets. And as
21:30you need more data, as it's an
21:31alternative way, meaning increases
21:33incrementally at different pace to
21:35increase production in various ways,
21:37there is always an interesting decision
21:38to be made when it comes to spending
21:40your cash. Mugenics is a grid-based
21:42turn-based rogike where damage is
21:45universal which really creates a sandbox
21:47of combat possibilities. Every effect,
21:50damage, knockback, poison, traps, etc.
21:54can be done and inflicted to friendly
21:56targets on both sides, meaning that you
21:59can hurt your units and the enemy can
22:01hurt their own units as well. This
22:03design decision is really interesting
22:05because in theory, it creates a really
22:07high skill ceiling where not only do you
22:09have to position ahead of time to use
22:11your most powerful abilities with the
22:13biggest AoE's, but you can influence the
22:15positioning and types of attacks enemies
22:17use, maximizing the amount of damage
22:20they do to each other as well. The cool
22:22mechanic in Dungeon Slime is also the
22:24core mechanic in Dungeon Slime. Dungeon
22:27Slime is a puzzle game where it combines
22:30traditional 2D ice physics like from the
22:32old Zelda games where if you press a
22:34direction whilst on the ice, you will
22:36move on that direction until you hit a
22:38wall with the fact that whenever you hit
22:40a wall, you change shape. This game is
22:43really intuitive. So, I don't think I
22:45need to explain too much. You can just
22:46watch the video. But yeah, if you hit a
22:48wall from the side, you will be squished
22:51tall. And if you hit a wall from the top
22:53or bottom, you'll be squished flat. The
22:56idea is that every room is a puzzle
22:58where you have to figure out what size
23:00you need to be, where you need to go,
23:03how to get yourself to that size, and
23:06how to get yourself to that place. Every
23:09single wall placement matters, and every
23:11single movement matters. This is further
23:13pushed by the fact that the slime cube
23:15always has the exact same area, meaning
23:17that if you get squished, you get taller
23:20and wider, but you always maintain the
23:22same amount of total space on the
23:24screen. One cool mechanic in inching
23:27along is its painstaking movement. It's
23:30one of those games where just to move an
23:32inch, it takes a lot of effort.
23:34Essentially, you have five inputs. You
23:36have your grips on your little feet,
23:38which are one input each for front and
23:40back. space bar, which like scrunches
23:42you up, and then two inputs for your
23:44weight, so you can lean one way or
23:46another if either one of your feet
23:48aren't on the ground. This is usually
23:49for when you're climbing or getting over
23:51a gap, for example. The reason why this
23:53is a cool mechanic is twofold. Firstly,
23:55it simulates the feeling of being a
23:57caterpillar really well with me assuming
23:59what that feels like, of course. But
24:01secondly, with five inputs, I think this
24:03mechanic strikes a really interesting
24:05balance where after the initial hurdle
24:07of learning the game, it doesn't ask too
24:09much of the player to then fall into a
24:10zen-like feeling of just inching along.
24:13This comes from the principle of
24:14subotizing, where if you keep the amount
24:16of things someone has to remember below
24:19six, then it makes it a lot easier for
24:21them to remember it. It's why numbers
24:23are separated into threes with commas or
24:25why phone numbers are split into groups
24:27of five and six numbers. Also shouting
24:30out the level design here for giving the
24:32feeling of relief by having most
24:34checkpoints floppable too. What I mean
24:36by this is that oftent times just
24:38letting go of all inputs can let you
24:40fall into a checkpoint and then respawn.
24:43It seems to have been done with
24:45intention and it really does give the
24:46player a satisfying feeling of
24:47accomplishment as they watch their
24:49little caterpillar flop to victory. This
24:52game definitely is not for everyone, but
24:54I do appreciate it design. One cool
24:57mechanic in Legends of Lega, sorry if I
25:00mispronounced that, is the tactical art
25:02system. Basically, what this mechanic
25:04is, for me anyway, is a really good
25:07solution for players who wish they were
25:09really good at comboing in fighting
25:10games but just don't have the source
25:13like myself. Basically, the way it
25:15works, unlike most other JRPGs which
25:17have you choose one attack, instead on
25:19your turn, based on the amount of AP you
25:21have, you can build sequences of attacks
25:23to execute all in one go. Regarding the
25:26comboing, based on the moves you which
25:28you input, you can output different
25:31types of arts, which is just the name of
25:33the combos in this game. There are
25:35regular arts, hyper arts, super arts,
25:37and miracle arts. All are differentiated
25:40by what actions you input, as well as
25:43where those actions are in the move
25:45order. For example, the only way to
25:47perform a super art is if you end your
25:49attack with a special move. There are
25:51around 20 different combos for each
25:52character, of which there are three. And
25:55the decision-making behind which ones to
25:57use mainly depend on which enemies you
25:59are facing, the health of both you and
26:01the enemy, and the amount of AP you
26:02have. TLDDR, this mechanic is really
26:05cool because it firstly makes you feel
26:07like a badass in a format which is more
26:08brains over brawn and secondly, it's
26:11because of the sheer amount of variety
26:13in which you can approach an encounter
26:15all whilst only having a few basic
26:17actions. It's an incredibly economically
26:20designed system and it's executed really
26:23well. One cool mechanic in Slayblade is
26:25how the combat and movements are one.
26:27So, Slayblade's entire mission statement
26:30is to create a really fast-paced and
26:32true attempt at mimicking the feeling of
26:34playing with your Beyblades as a kid.
26:36And it accomplishes that. One way it
26:38does this is the cool mechanic, the
26:40combat and movement of the blades. So,
26:42the way combat works, it's probably hard
26:44to tell from the video, but it's all
26:46about movement and positioning.
26:47Essentially, if you are moving towards
26:49the opponent and they are not moving
26:51towards you, you hit them. So, they take
26:54damage. And if it's the other way
26:55around, whereas they are moving towards
26:57you and you're moving away from them,
26:59they hit you and you take damage. And if
27:01you are both moving towards each other,
27:03which will happen, of course, it's about
27:05who is moving quicker, which determines
27:07who gets hit. So, who has more velocity,
27:09and the person with the lower velocity
27:11takes damage. Now the blade follows your
27:13cursor around which creates a very
27:15intuitive combat and movement system
27:17where you are building up momentum and
27:19speed around the board whilst attempting
27:21to dodge the other blade until you are
27:23ready to go in and hit them. This is one
27:25of those mechanics which I think was
27:26created initially for that mission
27:28statement. Like I said, the feeling of
27:30playing Beyblade, but I also think it's
27:32achieved a combat system which has a
27:34really high skill ceiling. Every
27:36movement of the cursor matters. every
27:38pixel and inch of the screen that you
27:39move to can drastically affect the
27:41outcome of the next Clash. Honestly,
27:43this game would probably be an absolute
27:45nightmare to get working multiplayer,
27:47but if the devs could pull it off, I
27:49think it would be a great scene with a
27:51few tweaks for to the underlying
27:52systems. Switch Track is a puzzle game
27:54that also has rhythm elements. I
27:57hesitate to call it a rhythm puzzle game
27:59because I don't think it quite meets the
28:01criteria, but the cool mechanic is
28:03centered around it. Essentially, the
28:04cool mechanic is so you have to switch
28:05tracks in a specific sequence with every
28:08level in order to safely escort carts
28:10from the tunnel to where they deposit
28:12their gold. What's cool about this
28:14mechanic for me is that it's so simple.
28:16It's as simple as changing the location
28:18of track actors between two coordinates
28:20on a flip-flop using one input. That is
28:23it. And with the addition of adding more
28:25tracks, more different types of tracks
28:27with different inputs and more carts,
28:29the puzzles have a very natural
28:31progression in difficulty and more than
28:33enough depth for this game to create a
28:34valuable experience for the player. It's
28:36just switching tracks. And sometimes
28:39that is what good game design is.
28:41Nothing complicated, nothing that will
28:43take months to implement, just a very
28:45basic premise which yields rewards which
28:47are both economical for the player in
28:49terms of quality and the developer in
28:52terms of time to make. One cool mechanic
28:54in Treasure of Rudas is that you can
28:56craft your own spells by naming them
28:59different things. So before I explain,
29:02in the menus of the game, you can
29:03inscribe different spells. What this
29:05means, you can literally type in letters
29:07to form the names of spells. How this
29:10actually works is that the game looks
29:12for groups of letters and then that
29:14informs what the spell does. Groups of
29:16letters can depict the element of the
29:18spell, the action it takes, and the
29:20overall mana cost of the spell. Here on
29:23screen is a breakdown of what they can
29:25be. There is a lot, so it's going to be
29:27quite small, unfortunately. What is
29:29really interesting about this is that
29:30the game makes a decision to sacrifice
29:33quality of life and ease of use to give
29:35the player an incredible feeling. The
29:38feeling of being the master of their own
29:40spells. To be able to determine exactly
29:42what spells they want to have access to
29:45via the system is a level of control
29:47players rarely have in the genre. The
29:49game doesn't restrict the player either.
29:51Well, not directly. You can give
29:52yourself via a guide. Probably the best
29:55spells in the entire game immediately.
29:57You just won't have the mana to cast
29:59them straight away. So, that is an
30:01important thing to note. Progression
30:03does have a gate in this game, your mana
30:05cap. And even then, the spells are
30:06balanced around their power. Still, they
30:08will cost more mana regardless. So, you
30:11could cast them later on, but still it
30:13would be an interesting decision to make
30:14of whether to have the most powerful
30:16spells, but maybe only be able to cast
30:18one or two spells per fight. But the
30:20fact remains that just being able to
30:22craft your own spells by typing them and
30:24having so much control over the amount
30:26of spells and what they do is really
30:28cool. Definitely a relic of its time,
30:30but this mechanic can and should be
30:32modernized in my opinion. Luffia 2 does
30:35something really interesting with AoE
30:37magic attacks. AoE attacks in turn-based
30:40JRPGs often follow the same rule. They
30:42hit more enemies but for less damage
30:44than a regular attack. Sometimes [music]
30:46the difference in damage isn't that
30:48drastic, but in those games, in those
30:50cases, uh the combat system is built
30:52around enemies being weak to different
30:54attacks. So sometimes an AoE attack
30:56might be better against some enemies and
30:58others. And even sometimes if you hit an
31:01enemy with a particular attack, it could
31:03actually buff them. So deciding whether
31:05to get more total damage or not can
31:08depend on the enemies you are facing. In
31:10Luffia 2 though, the game gives you a
31:12lot more control in a really interesting
31:14and elegant way. Essentially with a lot
31:16of AoE attacks, the player can choose
31:18whether to attack one or multiple
31:20enemies with it. The more enemies you
31:22attack with AoE, the less damage each
31:24unit takes. It seems to go down by 50%
31:27every time incrementally. Additionally,
31:29a lot of attacks have a range to them
31:31depicted by the length of the bar of the
31:32enemy name. So, you have to choose
31:34carefully where to start your attack so
31:36you can reach other enemies. This
31:38mechanic allows for the player to make
31:40interesting choices with every attack.
31:42If they want to take down an enemy which
31:43is causing them a problem really
31:45quickly, they might want to focus all of
31:48their damage on that one target using an
31:50AoE attack. But if they want to hit all
31:51the enemies at once over the course of a
31:53couple of rounds, they can choose to do
31:55that. What I like about this mechanic is
31:57how easy and intuitive it is for the
32:00player to understand with very binary
32:02choices which [music] can have cascading
32:04impacts on every fight, making it easy
32:06to understand but deep enough to make
32:08the player think. One cool mechanic in
32:10Grandia is how the turn meter works. So
32:13Grandia is a GRPG with turn-based combat
32:15but with a twist. The best way to
32:17describe the combat in this game is that
32:19each unit takes turns selecting an
32:21action as usual, but the actions are
32:24performed based on when that unit
32:26reaches the end of the act part of the
32:28meter in the bottom right of the screen.
32:30Each unit selects an action when they
32:32reach the com part of the meter, which I
32:34assume is short for combat. And then the
32:36action is performed when they reach the
32:38end of the act part of the meter. This
32:41means two things. Firstly, it means that
32:43there is a time between when an action
32:45is performed and when it is executed.
32:47And secondly, this time is actually
32:50meaningful. It isn't just a built-in
32:52timer for an animation to play. During
32:54the distance between the common acts
32:56part of the meter, every other unit is
32:58moving closer to the common act part of
33:00the meter. Because when in combat, apart
33:03from when the game is paused, so you can
33:05select an action, units are constantly
33:07moving up and down this meter. This
33:09alongside with the fact that different
33:10actions move at different speeds along
33:12the meter as well as different enemies
33:14moving at different speeds along the
33:15meter, it means that selecting and
33:17performing actions get desincted. Every
33:20combat encounter starts pretty
33:22sequential, but soon units are
33:25performing actions really close
33:26together. Some units taking over other
33:28units in the order. And what this means
33:30is that actions can be stopped by other
33:33actions right before they are executed.
33:36Say you have a slow attack. If it's slow
33:38enough and an enemy is fast enough, they
33:40could get off an ability to block that
33:41attack. And the same goes for you
33:43against enemies. This really makes a
33:45speed start in this game mean a lot more
33:47than just other turn-based games, which
33:50is usually just to inform the starting
33:52order. And it really allows for each
33:54battle to feel incredibly unique and
33:56strategic. One cool mechanic in Trails
33:59in the Sky is how the combat works. So,
34:02Trails in the Sky is a JRPG with
34:04turn-based combat. However, it does
34:06something really interesting with how
34:08you engage in the combat. So, firstly,
34:10you can choose for it to not be
34:12turnbased at all if you don't want to.
34:14So long as it's outside of scripted
34:16bosses or mini boss encounters, you can
34:18just run up to enemies and start
34:20whailing on them. Alternatively, you can
34:22choose to go straight into turn-based
34:23combat immediately. This stops all
34:25enemies from what they're doing when
34:27they're out in the wild and gives
34:28everyone a turn order, or you can mix
34:31and match. What I really like to do,
34:32especially because of how positioning
34:34can really matter, which I will get on
34:36to in a minute, is attack enemies in
34:38real time until I'm happy with how
34:40everyone is set up, like where they're
34:41placed on the field. Then I switch to
34:44turnbased. The reason why positioning is
34:46important is because of how the attacks
34:48work. Apart from magic and melee
34:50attacks, attacks attack space rather
34:53than enemy. Usually a radius or like a
34:56rectangle covering an area. So looking
34:58at it in a basic sense, if you group a
35:01bunch of enemies together by
35:02manipulating their positioning whilst in
35:04real-time combat, you can then use
35:06attacks with a radius to hit a bunch of
35:08enemies at once rather than just one
35:10enemy. Additionally, certain enemies
35:12take more damage and certain attacks do
35:14more damage if you hit them from a
35:15certain angle. Some enemies are weak to
35:17their left. Some attacks do more damage
35:20from behind, etc. This
35:21turn-based/realtime combat combination
35:24goes a lot further than just a gimmick.
35:26And honestly, there is so much depth to
35:28the combat of Trials in the Sky beyond
35:30what I've just talked about here that I
35:32really appreciate the surface level
35:34mechanical implementation of the combat
35:36as it also serves that depth. Blood
35:39Dungeon, the auto shooting platformer by
35:41the developers behind Nidhog, has a
35:44bunch of really cool things about it.
35:46But with no shade at all, most of it is
35:48cut from a very similar cloth as to
35:51other auto shooters, Bullet Heaven
35:53games, Vampire Survivors type games,
35:55etc. However, one cool mechanic which is
35:58really interesting and I haven't seen
35:59done this way is the wall climbing
36:01mechanic. Essentially, you can climb on
36:04any surface, whether the bottom of the
36:05platform, the side of the platform, or
36:07any walls and floors with no penalty
36:10whatsoever. No stamina, no cooldowns,
36:13nothing. This is really interesting
36:14because of what it means for the game as
36:16a whole. As an auto shooter, the
36:18emphasis is on avoiding damage because
36:20you don't have to pay attention to
36:22shooting at all. So right there giving
36:25the players this level of freedom to
36:26express and move however they want is
36:28really cool and lifting any restrictions
36:30which are common in other games was a
36:32great decision which had to be made. On
36:34top of that though the developers put a
36:35lot of effort into the enemy design to
36:37really make this meaningful. The height
36:39of the enemies are either small, medium
36:41or large. This alongside the standard
36:43corridor size really makes an impact on
36:45which surface you hold onto as you are
36:47moving throughout the level. Some
36:49enemies stick to walls and can swap to
36:51other walls. Other enemies can go
36:53through walls. Other enemies can shoot
36:54walls and shoot through walls, whilst
36:56other enemies are restricted to just the
36:58surface that they are on. It makes every
37:00enemy a surprising little puzzle box
37:02where your movement and positioning is
37:03the key to the solution. Honestly, like
37:06I said at the top, this game is
37:08relatively paint by the numbers for the
37:10genre, and most games in the genre are.
37:12So, I didn't expect for the what is
37:14usually the most basic and common part
37:16of the design of the game to be the
37:18mechanic that really sets it apart, the
37:21movement. Dice Vader is a game where the
37:23designer took the premise of Space
37:25Invaders and flipped it on its head.
37:27Essentially, much like Bellatro, your
37:29aim is to score more points than the
37:31goal every round. If you don't, then the
37:33humans will win. If you do, the aliens,
37:35which are which is you, will win, and
37:37you get to move on to the next round.
37:39There's shops, artifacts, perks,
37:42everything you'd expect. But one cool
37:43mechanic is how the artifacts and
37:45columns work specifically. So on screen
37:47you will see that you have six columns.
37:49Depending on what dice you roll, they
37:51will end up in that column. The more
37:53dice, the higher the multi. But also,
37:55you need to make sure you have good
37:56aliens. And a lot of them in any
37:58particular column to score a lot of
38:00points. If there's no aliens in a
38:01column, then you can't score points even
38:03if you roll a dice for that column.
38:05Right there is a decision which is
38:07interesting. Do you go wide or deep
38:09riskreward? But the placement of
38:11artifacts which are abilities really
38:14matter. Some artifacts are obnoxic when
38:16it comes to where they you place them,
38:18but most of them either give nothing or
38:20a small bonus compared to their full
38:22ability unless they are in the column
38:24which is actively being scored. These
38:27abilities could be something like if a
38:29pair is scored, so two dice in the same
38:31column, gain two molts for example, on
38:34top of what you already gain. This plays
38:35into what I was saying earlier about
38:37deciding whether to put all your eggs in
38:39one basket or one in a few baskets
38:42across the board, i.e. building your
38:44units in just a few columns or spreading
38:46them out. Sure, you will score lower per
38:48dice, but you will always score rather
38:51than completely whiff if you get unlucky
38:53rolls, which happened to me a bunch. On
38:54top of that, the artifacts have a level
38:56up system where the more they are used,
38:58the more XP they get and the higher
39:00level they are, which means that they
39:02get better. Outside of placement, this
39:04also plays nicely into decisions of
39:07whether or not to replace artifacts. As
39:09the longer you have them, the more
39:11difficult that choice gets, cuz when you
39:12buy new artifacts, they are level one
39:14for the most part. This game is full of
39:16little nuances and tweaks to familiar
39:18formulas. And honestly, I really like
39:20it. So, I came across a problem game. I
39:24call it a problem game because I
39:25couldn't stop playing. And that game is
39:28called Kaz. Kaz is a rogike game where
39:31you control a character on a grid with
39:32WD or the arrow keys. No other input is
39:35required apart from the occasional space
39:37bar to progress through menus. The aim
39:39of the game is to get a certain amount
39:41of points each round before the time
39:43runs out. You get points by killing
39:45enemies and finding and collecting
39:46stars. There are two types of enemies,
39:48the clown and the ghost. The clone just
39:50stands there and the ghost runs away
39:53until you corner them. Clowns can also
39:55have shields which take multiple hits to
39:57destroy them and stars disappear after
39:59just a couple of seconds. Additionally,
40:01there are also spikes which curse you.
40:04You need to avoid them. They appear and
40:05disappear like stars except they have a
40:07little warning beforehand in the form of
40:09a purple cross. The cool mechanic in
40:11this game is that movement and attacks
40:13because of what you are moving to and
40:16attacking. The game is incredibly
40:18fast-paced. looks really unintuitive
40:20from the observer, as I'm sure it does
40:22for you, but when you play one or two
40:25rounds, you are fully locked in. There
40:27are so many micro decisions with that
40:29movement and attacking made constantly
40:31in order to get the most points possible
40:34within the time. You can't just spam WD
40:38as fast as you can and come out on top.
40:40You need to actually decide who you are
40:42attacking and where you are moving, and
40:45you need to avoid the obstacles. The
40:47game is also complemented really well by
40:49a basic inr run progression system which
40:52is actually really good. But the core
40:54fundamentals of this game are so strong
40:56it's just really fun to make decisions
40:59in CAS. So don't pause the game is an
41:02incredibly weird one. There is a cool
41:04mechanic where yes if you guessed it
41:06then good on you. You pause the game in
41:08order to complete puzzles. How does this
41:10work? Well, it works by opening menus.
41:13You open the basic menu and you can
41:15actually jump on the buttons. You change
41:16the language and those buttons become
41:18bigger or smaller depending on the
41:20language you chose. You can change the
41:21language for those buttons to do
41:23different things as well, like make the
41:24screen bigger or smaller. And yes, you
41:27can jump on the slider, too. This is for
41:29sure a bit of a gimmicky game. Well,
41:31it's entirely a gimmicky game, and it's
41:33hard to play due to the fact that
41:35changing languages means that you can't
41:36understand what most of the buttons do.
41:38However, I wanted to cover it because if
41:40you thought there were no new spins or
41:42mechanics, then this game proves you
41:44wrong. The cool mechanic in Aftermove is
41:48the movement and enemies, for lack of a
41:51better term. So, After Move is a puzzle
41:52game where you get from point A to point
41:54B without dying. That's your objective.
41:57Whenever you move, the enemies on the
41:58board move the amount and in the
42:00direction indicated on them. It might be
42:03difficult to tell much about how the
42:05enemies will behave on this video, but
42:07this game is incredibly intuitive to
42:08play. I can say that there are a couple
42:10of cool things about the system which
42:12create a really nice puzzle experience.
42:14Firstly, you might realize that a lot of
42:16these pieces move like chess pieces. So,
42:18if you have played chess before, the
42:20fundamentals of moving your piece around
42:22the board, taking into account not just
42:24their next move, but next three moves
42:26from now and of a bunch of different
42:28pieces at the same time is really
42:30interesting. Secondly, due to the
42:32variety of how pieces move, every move
42:34really does count from you because
42:36pieces can be in sync with each other,
42:38i.e. they are moving the same way or the
42:40same number of spaces. But if you move
42:42too much or not enough, they could hit
42:44each other or hit walls or get
42:47teleported to different parts of the
42:48map. Each piece due to their
42:50interactions with other pieces equal
42:52more than just to some of their parts.
42:54Finally, pieces move just after you
42:57move. This is a bit nuanced, but really
42:59makes an impact. Essentially, you can't
43:01move into spaces that a piece is on.
43:03Even if you think that might be
43:04possible, as you expect the piece to
43:06move as you move, but like I said, they
43:08move just after you move. What this
43:09means is that both the space the pieces
43:11on as well as the space they are going
43:13to move to as soon as you move are red
43:16zones. Again, making every piece,
43:18depending on what behaviors they have,
43:20have more to them than just a standard
43:22chest piece. One cool mechanic in Braid
43:25is, of course, the time mechanic. So,
43:27the time mechanic is fundamentally
43:29interesting, even without the design
43:31implications for puzzles. So, we're not
43:32even going to talk about puzzles for
43:34now, but we will get to it. What Braid
43:36allows you to do at any point is rewind
43:38time. It rewinds the main character as
43:40well as any enemies or moving platforms.
43:42And you can even speed this up if you
43:44want, say if you're rewinding for quite
43:45a while. What this does, again,
43:48fundamentally, is put an entire new
43:50perspective on failure. If you fail, you
43:53rewind. There is no checkpoints, no cuts
43:55to black. You are constantly in the
43:57level, constantly immersed and thinking
43:58about how to solve puzzles and
44:00avoid/defeat enemies. Very streamlined,
44:03very simple, and very well executed.
44:06However, the puzzle design aspect of
44:07this mechanic is also really cool. The
44:09foundation of a lot of puzzles in Braid
44:11is, sure, you can rewind time, but some
44:13things are immune to it/ work
44:16differently when you rewind. The basic
44:18example is the key and the door.
44:20Figuring out how to get the key is one
44:22thing, but then the fact that the key is
44:24immune to rewind allows you to
44:25accomplish things in levels you wouldn't
44:27think possible based off the opening
44:29five minutes of the game, as the key
44:30comes with you when you rewind. But then
44:32the game quickly gets much more
44:35interesting. Platforms are immune to the
44:37rewind whilst others are not. Take this
44:39puzzle for example, where the bottom
44:41platforms are immune whilst the top ones
44:43aren't. The entire puzzle is about
44:45figuring out how to use your rewind so
44:47the gaps between platforms are short
44:50enough so you can make the jump. Just
44:52this binary behavior, either reacting or
44:54not reacting to the rewind mechanic or
44:56even reacting in different ways to the
44:58rewind mechanic is more than enough to
45:00base an entire game on which Braid did
45:02and is a strong evidence of any to
45:05indicate great mechanic and puzzle
45:07design. One cool mechanic in World of
45:08Goo is how the goo works. So, World of
45:11Goo is a puzzle game where you have to
45:13use goo balls to get from one point in
45:15the level to the other. To do this, you
45:17drag and drop goo balls to connect them
45:19to other goo balls in your structure.
45:21This structure has physics, meaning
45:23weight and tension. This in lines part
45:26of the puzzle aspect of the design. You
45:28need to make sure you build a sound
45:29structure to get to where you need to
45:31go. Otherwise, if you mess it up, you'll
45:33have to restart. However, the other half
45:35of the puzzle aspect of the design is
45:37the amount of goo balls you need to have
45:39left over by the time you complete the
45:41puzzle. This is a number visible at the
45:43start of each level. This means not only
45:45do you need to create a good structure,
45:46but you need to do it with as few goo
45:48balls as possible. If you don't have
45:50enough goo balls by the end, again, you
45:52fail the puzzle. On top of that, the
45:54game has a mechanic which incentivizes
45:56you to retain as many goo balls as
45:58possible, furthering the need to be as
46:00efficient as possible. This is an
46:02example of a puzzle mechanic which isn't
46:04about how to do something, but how to do
46:06something as well as you can. It's for
46:09the player type that isn't super keen on
46:11brainmelting puzzles, but instead for
46:13the player that loves to optimize and
46:15plan ahead. Do not be fooled by the way
46:18Bulbo's belief system looks. This puzzle
46:20game is actually incredible. So, the
46:22cool mechanic is that Bulbo, the main
46:24character, doesn't believe in anything
46:26unless he is told to believe in it by an
46:28NPC. This includes walking left and
46:30right, gravity, throwing, jumping, etc.
46:33Essentially, outside of the context, you
46:35have no actions unless you interact with
46:37an NPC that gives you a specific action.
46:39This is what is needed to complete a
46:41puzzle in this game. So, say you need
46:42gravity. You need to interact with an
46:44NPC to get it. However, in this starting
46:46puzzle, if you have gravity, you will
46:48fall before you need it. Therefore, you
46:51need to go to this other NPC to get the
46:53ability to throw to then go and throw
46:54the gravity NPC to where you need them
46:56to be and then get gravity afterwards.
46:59There are also times when you need to
47:01remove a belief system in order to
47:03complete a puzzle, like in this section
47:05here, where you need to climb up a
47:06shaft. To do that, you need to forget
47:08gravity after just learning jumps, so
47:10you can essentially fly. This is such a
47:13cool mechanic as it's built for
47:14creativity and unexpected solutions to
47:17complete puzzles. Really giving the
47:19player the feeling of control and
47:20therefore when they complete a puzzle
47:22they feel incredibly smart. Wim wo I m
47:26I'm assuming it's pronounced wim is just
47:29an incredible puzzle game based off
47:31snake but you are a worm that eats a
47:34lot. So the core premise of every puzzle
47:36is if you press the button or eat a
47:38certain amount of apples then you can
47:40get to the exit. The main hurdle of
47:42doing this though is always you
47:45literally. So each level is built so you
47:48can only move in a relatively small
47:50area. You are somewhat long to begin
47:52with, but the more you eat, the bigger
47:54you get. For puzzles which have the goal
47:56of eating a certain number of apples in
47:58order to progress, the entire point of
48:00the puzzle is figuring out how not to
48:02get stuck as you get bigger. There is
48:04really only one path you can take to eat
48:06all the apples and also not get stuck.
48:09You have to figure that out. Other
48:10puzzles don't require you to eat
48:12anything. Instead, you have to maneuver
48:13your body around a level to put a rock
48:16on a button, for example. A task that
48:18looks so simple at first, but you soon
48:20realize that it isn't because you are
48:22always getting in the way of yourself.
48:24Puzzles are built very much for the
48:25player that likes to think and plan
48:27ahead. When you move, it could sign your
48:29death certificate for getting stuck in
48:3110 moves from now or 15 moves from now.
48:34decisions which are made right at the
48:36start of the level could affect what you
48:38can do, if anything, at the end of the
48:40level. I will say though, if it wasn't
48:41obvious, the game does have an undo
48:43button which can send you right back to
48:45the start of the level if you want to.
48:46Level design like this is really
48:48interesting to analyze because it's so
48:50difficult to do, but Wim does it really
48:53well. One cool mechanic in object
48:56impermanence is the well object
48:59impermanence mechanic. TLDDR. This is
49:01one of those ever increasingly rare
49:04puzzle games that has truly found a new
49:06mechanic or a new way of doing a
49:08mechanic to base its entire game on. The
49:10way it works broadly is if you look at
49:12something, an object behaves in one way,
49:14and if you don't look at it, it behaves
49:16in another way. At the start of the
49:18game, you are introduced to turbines,
49:20which only move when you look at them,
49:21fans, which only turn on when you look
49:23at them, and flowers, which begin their
49:25life again whenever you look at them.
49:27The way this mechanic plays into puzzles
49:29is through movement primarily,
49:31especially at the start of the game. You
49:32need objects to move or not to move in
49:35order to complete puzzles, such as this
49:36little ball that you carry around with
49:38you. In some puzzles, you need to look
49:40at it to get to move. Some of the
49:42puzzles involve actually figuring out
49:44how to look at it to begin with. Some
49:45puzzles require you to not look at it
49:47before you can grab it so it doesn't
49:48fall down a pit, for example. Some
49:50puzzles require you to only look at it
49:52at certain times. This is just the
49:54beginning of the game as well. The demo
49:56is out now and honestly this game is
49:58kind of really special and so much so I
50:00even on this channel I didn't really
50:02want to spoil even the demo. Make sure
50:04to check it out especially if you are
50:06designing your own puzzle game. One cool
50:08mechanic in Ether Vapor are the lock-on
50:10missile sections of missions. Ether
50:12Vapor is a highintensity shoot them up
50:15game with lots going on at any given
50:17time. And I mean lots. The devs did a
50:19lot to make sure each scene is
50:21incredibly varied in terms of enemies,
50:24camera angles, projectiles, etc.
50:26However, one of the coolest variances
50:28the devs did are the segments of
50:30missions where instead of controlling
50:31your jet, you are controlling the aiming
50:33of your lock on missiles. This feels
50:36incredibly cinematic, and the SFX and
50:38VFX do a great job at providing loads of
50:41really great player feedback, but the
50:42fact that it changes up the way you
50:44engage with the game in a meaningful way
50:46is the main reason I wanted to highlight
50:48it. It still makes you feel immersed.
50:50It's adjacent enough to the rest of the
50:51game where it doesn't feel out of place,
50:53but it's timed and placed perfectly in
50:55scenes to change it up in a really fun
50:57way. Fretless is a turnbased deck
51:00building rhythm game where rhythm
51:02actually plays a huge role in not just
51:04how potent your cards are, but when and
51:06where you should play your cards, which
51:08is where in lies the cool mechanic. So,
51:10when it's your turn in fretless, you can
51:12load up to three cards to play in quick
51:14succession. Alongside cards being better
51:16or worse depending on what order they
51:18are in the track due to what's on the
51:20card themselves. One other huge thing
51:22the player has to consider is the rhythm
51:24of the QTE each card requires. Every
51:26card requires you to execute a QT in
51:29order to get the most out of them. And I
51:31found whilst playing that the QTS
51:32themselves when they happen during the
51:34animation and how many of them there are
51:36played a huge role in where I would put
51:38them in the turn order. If I had one
51:40card which had two QTs right at the end
51:43of the animation, I wouldn't want to
51:44then pick a card which had a QT right at
51:47the start of the next animation because
51:48then I'll be dealing with too many QTs
51:50and the be out of rhythm. This mechanic
51:52was intended to work more subconsciously
51:54than anything else. I believe players
51:56will find over time which combo of cards
51:58work best for having a high accuracy of
52:00execution. And it will most likely be
52:02down to the QTE on those cards fitting
52:04together in rhythm, which makes sense
52:06given the context of the game is
52:08fighting with music. So the better the
52:10music, the better the outcome. One cool
52:12mechanic in Dice a million is how the
52:14economy works with both the deck
52:16building, or should I say dice building
52:18and the combat in rounds. So each fight
52:21you need to roll a certain total number
52:24across all your dice in all the rounds.
52:26If you roll higher than the minimum
52:28target, then you get the difference to
52:30spend on improving your deck. So say you
52:32need to get 50 in order to progress and
52:34you roll a total of 100, then you get 50
52:37to spend in the shop. What's really cool
52:39about this is firstly, it rewards the
52:41player for being ahead of the curve,
52:43creating a satisfying snowball effect.
52:45But secondly, and something which you
52:47might not clock at first is that any
52:49money you don't spend rolls over into
52:52the next round, meaning that you
52:53essentially get a head start. So for
52:55example, if you don't spend 50 in the
52:57shop, you start with 50 the next round,
53:00reducing the amount you actually need to
53:02beat that round. So basically 50 damage
53:04already done to the enemy, if you want
53:06to look at it like that. So it creates a
53:08really interesting decision. Do you
53:10spend more to potentially make more, or
53:13do you save money to give yourself less
53:15to make in the next round? One cool
53:17mechanic in Rogue Jack 21 is how it
53:20utilizes the rules of blackjack to
53:22create a really fun 1v one jewel. So, to
53:24just quickly summarize, in this
53:26simplified version of Blackjack, your
53:28cards need to total as close to 21 as
53:30possible without going over. And if you
53:32do go over, you lose. You are competing
53:34against AI who do the same thing as you
53:36attempt to get to 21. The first change
53:38this game does to make it a better
53:40dueling game than regular blackjack is
53:42it takes your total of your hand and
53:44damages the player with the lower score.
53:46So if you have a total of 20 and win,
53:49your opponent takes 20 damage. This adds
53:51an extra incentive to try and draw in
53:53extra cards just so you could do more
53:55damage to your opponent even though it
53:56might risk you going over 21. One cool
53:59mechanic in Mio Memories in Orbit is the
54:01one thing it does with combat. So, the
54:03combat in Mio feels great. And one of
54:05the reasons why is that along with the
54:07great game feel of the platforming, the
54:09game sets your velocity to near zero
54:12whenever you are to hit an enemy. This
54:14means that whenever you hit an enemy in
54:15the air, whether it's you jumping over
54:17them or you hitting a flying enemy from
54:19the side, you will stop dead midair,
54:21allowing you to combo them without
54:23falling so long as you keep hitting them
54:25because as soon as you miss, you'll
54:26start to fall again. This feels great in
54:28practice and is really well implemented.
54:30One cool mechanic in Incredicer are the
54:33two currencies and how important they
54:35are in this idle dice rolling game. So,
54:37you have two currencies, money and dark
54:39matter. Money is used as expected. You
54:42buy dice or buy upgrades to the dice in
54:44order to make more money. Very simple
54:46gameplay loop. However, dark matter is
54:48different entirely. With every dice
54:50roll, you get one dark matter. You then
54:52use dark matter to start unlocking
54:54skills on the skill tree. At the
54:55beginning, this skill tree is
54:56deceptively simple, but then you quickly
54:59start getting more and more options, and
55:01those options are three-fold. You can
55:03unlock economy skills, which can
55:05increase the potency of individual dice.
55:07You can unlock dark matter skills, which
55:09allow you to gain more dark matter per
55:11roll. And then you can unlock skills
55:13which give you both money and dark
55:15matter, but just indirectly. For
55:17example, as this game is an idol game,
55:19you can buy curses, which roll dice for
55:21you. So the more curses you buy, the
55:23more money you get, but also the more
55:24dark matter you get as more dice are
55:26rolled. The economy of this game is
55:28interesting where throughout your time
55:30with it, your goals change based on what
55:32economy type you need. So you find your
55:34way pushing one way up the skill tree
55:35and then counteracting that later on or
55:37maybe even regretting some decisions you
55:39made earlier on. Considering it took me
55:41just 6 hours to 100% this game, I didn't
55:44expect to be so involved in an idol
55:47game. But I always found myself every
55:49few minutes agonizing over different
55:51decisions and I think that is
55:52specifically due to the way the
55:54currencies works and I really like that.
55:56One cool mechanic in Cuphead is the
55:57parry mechanic. This mechanic I think is
55:59executed really well but also a bit
56:01differently to others in the genre.
56:03Essentially the way it works is that
56:04whenever there is a pink projectile or
56:06enemy on screen, if you jump on it and
56:08then hit the jump button as you're about
56:10to collide with it, you destroy it and
56:12get an extra bounce. The benefits of
56:13this are three-fold for the player. You
56:15remove an obstacle from the screen,
56:17which is one of the primary challenges
56:18in the game. You gain an extra jump,
56:20which can be vital for dodging certain
56:22attacks or just simply making it easier
56:23for yourself. And it gives you an
56:25additional charge to your meter. These
56:27three things make the negative, which is
56:29the fact that you have to actively get
56:31closer to a damage causer worth it. And
56:33the implementation of this mechanic is
56:35incredibly smooth and satisfying. I
56:36remember the other day I was watching
56:38Blueie with my kid and one of the
56:40characters was wearing pink. My
56:42instincts were to parry the character.
56:44No questions asked. Batman Arkham
56:47Knight's detective mode is honestly
56:48incredible, and I don't think it's been
56:50topped since. The design of this
56:52mechanic suits the character really
56:54well. You interact with different
56:55elements of the scene, and it replays a
56:57sequence of events leading up to how
56:59that object ended up where it was. This
57:01could give the player more information.
57:03Say it's a car that's crashed, but you
57:04need to identify the driver. Then you
57:06can visibly see where that driver's
57:08license went, for example. However, I
57:11think what's most cool about this
57:12mechanic is the immersion aspect. The
57:15way the camera follows the scene, the
57:17way you feel like you're on the ground
57:18as it's happening, properly harnessing
57:20the fact that this game, the world that
57:22this game inhabits, is actually
57:24three-dimensional. That you can walk
57:25around it, that you can feel it change
57:27dynamically. And as this is a Batman
57:29game, this mechanic in terms of its
57:31design and its implementation should be
57:33seen as incredible just for the fact
57:35that it truly makes you feel like you
57:37are a detective. Pawns Revenge is a game
57:39where you control a pawn on a chess
57:41board and each turn you roll a dice to
57:44see how many moves you will get. The aim
57:46of the game is to get to the portal
57:47which is the white disc on the board and
57:50whilst doing that you have to avoid
57:51getting taken by other pieces. You get
57:54taken by ending your turn within their
57:56range. Other pieces on the board can
57:58include any other chess piece but you'll
58:00be mainly finding rooks, bishops, and
58:02knights. The game uses the in chess
58:05ranges of these pieces really well.
58:07Knights are like a walking prox mine
58:09where you want to stay away from them
58:11because their range is really small but
58:13can span their entire circle around
58:15them. And rooks and bishops act as walls
58:17which span the whole board, requiring
58:19the player to take their time and
58:21movement correctly. This game utilizes
58:23the rules of chess really well to give
58:25you an interesting puzzle game every
58:27time. Very simple yet mechanically well
58:29executed.
58:36Hello.
58:39So, I have brought you an item this
58:42time.
58:45And it's a French horn that I used to
58:46play in middle school. Yes, I did. I
58:49played this horn. I played it so well. I
58:51play this horn amazingly. Would you like
58:53to see?
58:56So, as you can probably tell, this game
58:59is a weird one. Now, Keyboard Smash is a
59:01very difficult game to pin down, and
59:03there are actually two key mechanics in
59:05this game. Now, one of them is an
59:07Undertale inspired combat system where
59:09it's played in a 2D plane. The icon you
59:12control depicts both yourself and how
59:14you do damage. This mechanic is used
59:16comparatively sparingly to the other
59:18mechanic, but is the mechanic people
59:21would point to most likely to actually
59:23call a mechanic. For me though, the cool
59:25mechanic in Keyboard Smash is actually
59:27the just just the multiplechoice
59:29dialogue mechanic. So the way the game
59:32works is that customers come to you with
59:34items or problems or just questions. It
59:36is up to you to use your magnifying
59:38glass on whatever they are talking
59:40about, get the relevant information, and
59:42then solve their problem or choose not
59:44to. This mechanic allows the developer
59:47to easily branch the narrative, which
59:49does happen. If you help or hinder
59:51customers, they will do different things
59:52when they come back again. if they come
59:54back again, which can also impact other
59:56customers stories. This, of course,
59:58gives replay-ability and ownership as
1:00:00two boons to the player. But what it
1:00:02also does is that it doesn't get in the
1:00:05way. This game is all about the voice
1:00:07acting, the animations, and the comedy.
1:00:09You are going to be spending most of
1:00:10your time listening to these customers,
1:00:12which I'm pretty sure is all just the
1:00:14same guy. Not for any gameplay benefit,
1:00:16no hints or big story beats, just
1:00:18because they are all incredibly odd and
1:00:20in my opinion, incredibly funny. I
1:00:23wanted to highlight this mechanic purely
1:00:25as an example of a mechanic which when
1:00:27done right does not get in the way of
1:00:29what is the key selling point of the
1:00:31game. It can be very tempting to try and
1:00:33deepen mechanics or make them more
1:00:35complex in hopes that the player finds
1:00:37them more interesting. But if you are
1:00:39confident in your writing and voice
1:00:41acting abilities like this developer
1:00:43clearly is, it allows the freedom to
1:00:45keep other aspects of the game light as
1:00:47to not detract from the core experience.
1:00:50Also, play the demo for this game. I
1:00:52don't oftent times tell people to play
1:00:55particular games in the channel, but
1:00:56please play the demo for this game. And
1:00:58again, it's called Keyboard Smash. It is
1:01:00insane. One cool mechanic in Courier
1:01:02Beware is how it blends time, starts,
1:01:06and point-and-click detective work
1:01:08together. So, Courier Beware is a ghost
1:01:10detective game where you need to solve
1:01:12mysteries and deal with ghosts. To do
1:01:14this, you need to do your bog standard
1:01:16detective work, but you also need to
1:01:18rely on your core stats. Core stats
1:01:21start off pretty poor, like they do in
1:01:23most games that have them. And when you
1:01:25go in your first job, you realize you
1:01:27need to increase your intelligence, for
1:01:29example. To do this, you need to go to
1:01:31the library. Pretty basic stuff. All
1:01:33makes sense. However, what is
1:01:34interesting is what increasing your
1:01:36stats cost you. In Black and White,
1:01:39increasing stats cost you energy. You
1:01:42only have a certain amount of energy
1:01:43each day. So, you need to make decisions
1:01:45around what stats are best to increase.
1:01:47When you use up all your energy, you
1:01:48need to go to sleep, progressing to the
1:01:50next day. Another variable which
1:01:52compounds on what I just said is money
1:01:54and time. At the end of each day, you
1:01:57have to pay rent. You get money from
1:01:59completing jobs with ghost, but you also
1:02:00get it from doing other activities. The
1:02:02push and pull of completing jobs in
1:02:04increasing your stats and making enough
1:02:07money to pay rent is a constant
1:02:09decision-making exercise for the player.
1:02:11Other activities play with this further.
1:02:14For example, in order to gain charisma,
1:02:16you need to go to the bar, but the bar
1:02:17cost you both energy and money. So, you
1:02:20need to complete a job which requires
1:02:22charisma. the net profit of that job
1:02:24compared to what you spent to increase
1:02:26the stamina might not actually be enough
1:02:28to pay the rent, in which case you need
1:02:31to factor in other ways to generate
1:02:32income, whilst again keeping track of
1:02:34your energy in order to do that. This
1:02:36game could have just been a basic point
1:02:38andclick detective game. those work
1:02:40well. And this game has both the art and
1:02:42narrative chops to carry such a design.
1:02:45But the devs did so much more with the
1:02:47stats and time mechanics to really
1:02:49ground you in the context of a
1:02:51struggling ghost detective just trying
1:02:52to make ends meet and not burn out
1:02:55whilst doing so. One cool mechanic in
1:02:57The Seance of Blake Manor is how it
1:02:59utilizes time in a really interesting
1:03:01way. So, you're a detective trying to
1:03:03find out what happened to a missing
1:03:04woman. However, the catch is you only
1:03:06have 1 hour and every time you
1:03:07investigate something or just ask a
1:03:09question, that hour becomes 1 minute
1:03:11less. Say you have a conversation which
1:03:13has 10 interactions. That's 10 minutes
1:03:15gone. Say you open a draw and then look
1:03:17at something in more detail. That's 2
1:03:18minutes right there with a time limit of
1:03:20an hour essentially equating to 60
1:03:22turns. It really makes the player pick
1:03:24and choose what is actually important to
1:03:26investigate further rather than just
1:03:28clicking on everything or choosing every
1:03:30line of dialogue which happens in every
1:03:32other detective game which I think is a
1:03:34really neat twist in its own and a great
1:03:36innovation. But on top of that, there is
1:03:37also the fact that this game loops. You
1:03:39aren't meant to solve the case in just 1
1:03:41hour, but instead so many 1 hours. So
1:03:44the investigation actually becomes not
1:03:45only what you need to actually know, but
1:03:48when you need to actually know it. Also
1:03:50what you can do and where you can do it
1:03:52and figuring out character patterns,
1:03:54where they will be and when. All
1:03:56interlin in incredibly well done and
1:03:58satisfactory way with just a simple 60
1:04:00turn limit. Now I'm going to show you an
1:04:02example of how you can use knowledge
1:04:04previously gained to move characters
1:04:06around and get to places you couldn't
1:04:08find before. Don't worry, this is right
1:04:10at the beginning of the game, so no
1:04:11spoilers.
1:04:18Sir, this area is for staff only. I
1:04:21would kindly ask you to leave this room
1:04:23if you need assistance.
1:04:39Your telegraph machine seems to be
1:04:41functional.
1:04:43Is that so? Mr. Hunter must have slipped
1:04:47in unnoticed and fixed it. Then you'll
1:04:50have to excuse me. I have messages to
1:04:52send ahead of tomorrow.
1:04:58Well, there we are. There's over an
1:05:00hour's worth of cool mechanics. This is
1:05:02the third one I've done. So, if you
1:05:04enjoyed this, then there's two other
1:05:06mega compilations of cool mechanics on
1:05:08the channel for you to check out, all
1:05:09with completely different games from
1:05:11this video, so you can have a bunch of
1:05:13fresh cool mechanics. If you enjoyed the
1:05:15video and stuck around to the end, then
1:05:17please make sure to leave a like so
1:05:18other people can see it. Don't forget to
1:05:19subscribe to see more game design
1:05:22related content on your feed. Also, we
1:05:24have a GDL Discord server. If you are a
1:05:26game developer who wants to join a
1:05:27community full of other game developers,
1:05:29then you can do that via the link in
1:05:30description. as well. If you're just a
1:05:32gamer and a games enthusiast, there's
1:05:33plenty of people in the Discord where
1:05:35you can chat to about different games
1:05:38and maybe find some [music] new games to
1:05:39play. Anyway, thanks again and keep on
1:05:42keeping on.

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