What are "Game Mechanics" ?

Just realized that I might learn something by asking. I -think- I know, but that's happened before.

I did a forum search but, like, 127,916 items came up.

Basically, I guess I'm looking for something on which I can base or create a "checklist" of sorts to keep going to in order to make sure I'm creating balanced play.

Thanks!
Andrew

It's not that easy I'm afraid. First, you have to ask yourself "What is balanced play?" Your definition and someone elses' might be completely different. Proof is in the pudding, so to speak. I.E. you won't really know until you playtest it. Of course, with experience you can get a pretty good idea beforehand what will be unbalanced and what won't, but that's more of a gut instinct than anything.

-Darke

I'd define "game mechanics" as the abstract (not physical) elements of a game, defined in the rules, through which the players interact. The interaction can be with other players, or with the game environment itself.

Most games are a combination of several mechanics. For example, in Monopoly, a player figures out how far to move by rolling the dice. That's one mechanic right there; the idea of basing movement on a "random" dice roll. It's the "roll-and-move" mechanic, which is pretty old (and some would say, long in the tooth). Note that the dice themselves aren't a mechanic; it's the idea that the dice tell you how far you have to move that's the mechanic.

For a very good list of mechanics, go to http://www.boardgamegeek.com/searchform.php3 and scroll down to their list of mechanics. That's a pretty good starter list of a bunch of mechanics, many of which I'm sure you'll recognize.

As far as what mechanics balance a game best... that's a question that only playtests can answer.