Maps

Coding space

Every mechanic placed so that mechanics coded alike sit close together. The distance between two mechanics is the one in distances.csv: the share of the eight properties on which they differ, plus one minus the overlap of their effect tags. Classical multidimensional scaling flattens those distances onto two axes, which carry 19% of the variation, so nearness on the page is approximate and the axes have no meaning of their own. Hover over or focus a point to draw lines to its five nearest mechanics by the full distance; long lines show where the flattening misleads. 2 mechanics share an identical coding with at least one other and sit on the same point, marked with the number of mechanics there.

• Resource management
• Chance & risk
• Progression & capability
• Space & position
• Information & hidden state
• Interaction & exchange
• Time & action structure
• Action resolution
• Narrative & choice
• Puzzle & pattern

Effects that occur together

Every pair of experience-effect tags, grouped by effect group. Each cell counts the mechanics carrying both tags. Shading is lift: the count divided by the count expected if the two tags were assigned independently (one tag's total × the other's ÷ 191), blue where pairs occur more often than that and red where less often. Cells whose expected count is under 5 are left unshaded, because neither an excess nor a shortfall on so few means much; most rare tags fall there. Select a cell to list its mechanics. Pairs on at least five mechanics are also in effect-pairs.csv and on the patterns page.

The faint number after each effect's name is its total. Arrow keys move between cells once one has focus.

Media

The media each entry lists, which the catalog records from the games in its examples. A mechanic counts in every medium it lists. Physical play is a secondary medium, never an entry's only one.

Combinations

One row per combination of media that at least one mechanic lists, largest first. Filled dots mark the media in the combination. Open a count to list its mechanics.

The faint number after each medium is the count of mechanics listing it, in any combination.

Spread from the medium of the earliest documented use

Rows are the medium of each mechanic's earliest documented use; columns are the media the entry now lists. A cell counts the mechanics in both, shaded by its share of the row. Rows need not add up, because a mechanic counts in every medium it lists. Select a cell to list its mechanics.

Earliest documented use over time

The running count of earliest documented uses, one line per medium of that use. Each step is a year in which at least one mechanic's earliest use falls; hover over a step to name them. The time axis is the one on the timeline, compressed before 1850 and widest after 1950, so the slope of a line is not a rate. Dates are as given in each entry, including approximate ones.