I am developing a Co-Op dungeon crawl game that uses what I have been calling an “intensity mechanic,” but am pretty sure it is something else.
Each turn, you start by turning a card or two over that throw a curveball into gameplay. If players choose to deal with them, they use some of their valuable actions, but if they don’t, they get damaged or crippled in some way.
Not dealing with these is a sure way to die, and you still have to deal with enemy minions.
It makes the game intense, but it doesn’t exactly snowball like Pandemic, for example, unless you choose not to deal with the cards that come into play (which may stay in play until dealt with).
What would you call this mechanic?