Patterns

Counts and associations across the catalog's own codings of 191 mechanics. Each mechanic is coded once, on its canonical form, so a pattern here describes how this catalog codes mechanics, not how often games use them. Some patterns follow from the coding guidelines themselves, for example where two properties' definitions overlap; the guidelines are on the methodology page. Nothing here is a significance test. The maps page draws the same codings as pictures: the coding space, every effect pair, the media mechanics appear in, and earliest documented uses over time.

Property pairings
Effects that occur together
Property values and effects
Earliest documented use by era and medium

Property pairings

How strongly each pair of dimensions is associated, as a bias-corrected Cramér's V: 0 means the two are unrelated, 1 that one fixes the other. V has no direction, so shading shows strength only. Select a cell to open that pairing below. The values are also in crosstabs.csv.

Bias-corrected Cramér's V for every pair of dimensions
	Category	Player agency	Randomness	Interaction	Complexity	Pacing effect	Information	Feedback loop
Player agency
Randomness
Interaction
Complexity
Pacing effect
Information
Feedback loop
Decision density

One pairing in detail

Pick any two of the eight properties, or category, as rows and columns. Each cell counts the mechanics with both values. Shading compares that count with the count expected if the two were unrelated (row total × column total ÷ 191): blue where there are more than expected, red where there are fewer, measured as a Pearson residual. Cells whose expected count is under 5 are left unshaded, because a residual on so few means little. Select a cell to list its mechanics. All pairings are in crosstabs.csv.

Swatch numbers are residual bands (|r| ≥ 1, 2, 3). Cells at band 2 or beyond also carry a + or − after the count.

Strongest pairings

The ten pairs with the highest bias-corrected Cramér's V, a 0 to 1 summary of how strongly two dimensions are associated. The correction keeps the ten-value category dimension from ranking high on table size alone.

Pair	V	Action
Player agency × Decision density	0.42
Category × Randomness	0.39
Category × Information	0.31
Category × Interaction	0.26
Interaction × Information	0.26
Pacing effect × Feedback loop	0.25
Category × Complexity	0.25
Category × Feedback loop	0.24
Category × Player agency	0.21
Player agency × Randomness	0.20

Effects that occur together

Pairs of experience-effect tags carried by at least 5 of the same mechanics. Lift is how many times more often the pair occurs than it would if the two tags were assigned independently: 1 is chance, 2 is twice as often, below 1 is less often. Small totals make lift jumpy, so read it with the counts. Also in effect-pairs.csv.

Effect A	Effect B		A total	B total
Bluffing	Social deduction	6	15	7	10.91
Negotiation	Kingmaking	5	7	14	9.74
Teamwork	Alpha player	6	20	6	9.55
Compulsion	Grind	9	13	19	6.96
Engine satisfaction	Runaway leader	5	11	13	6.68
Inference	Bluffing	9	18	15	6.37
Sunk cost	Grind	5	12	19	4.19
Ownership	Replayability	12	29	20	3.95
Teamwork	Contested fairness	7	20	18	3.71
Engine satisfaction	Calculation	5	11	25	3.47
Ownership	Sunk cost	6	29	12	3.29
Discovery	Replayability	6	18	20	3.18
Execution	Flow	6	16	23	3.11
Spectacle	Volatility	5	10	31	3.08
Inference	Teamwork	5	18	20	2.65
Fear of missing out	Grind	5	19	19	2.65
Discovery	Ownership	7	18	29	2.56
Fear of missing out	Replayability	5	19	20	2.51
Mastery	Execution	11	57	16	2.30
Spatial reasoning	Runaway leader	5	32	13	2.30
Spatial reasoning	Calculation	9	32	25	2.15
Inference	Tension	17	18	84	2.15
Tension	Bluffing	14	84	15	2.12
Planning	Engine satisfaction	10	87	11	2.00
Planning	Analysis paralysis	19	87	21	1.99
Analysis paralysis	Ownership	6	21	29	1.88
Tension	Teamwork	16	84	20	1.82
Analysis paralysis	Calculation	5	21	25	1.82
Emergent narrative	Volatility	10	34	31	1.81
Ownership	Emergent narrative	9	29	34	1.74
Ownership	Grind	5	29	19	1.73
Discovery	Volatility	5	18	31	1.71
Consequence weight	Emergent narrative	13	43	34	1.70
Tension	Social deduction	5	84	7	1.62
Execution	Frustration risk	8	16	60	1.59
Frustration risk	Spectacle	5	60	10	1.59
Mastery	Spatial reasoning	15	57	32	1.57
Discovery	Emergent narrative	5	18	34	1.56
Contested fairness	Emergent narrative	5	18	34	1.56
Tension	Kingmaking	9	84	14	1.46
Mastery	Flow	10	57	23	1.46
Planning	Spatial reasoning	21	87	32	1.44
Frustration risk	Volatility	14	60	31	1.44
Mastery	Analysis paralysis	9	57	21	1.44
Analysis paralysis	Spatial reasoning	5	21	32	1.42
Tension	Betrayal	5	84	8	1.42
Planning	Calculation	16	87	25	1.41
Ownership	Consequence weight	9	29	43	1.38
Planning	Runaway leader	8	87	13	1.35
Consequence weight	Replayability	6	43	20	1.33
Tension	Fear of missing out	11	84	19	1.32
Planning	Fear of missing out	11	87	19	1.27
Calculation	Volatility	5	25	31	1.23
Flow	Emergent narrative	5	23	34	1.22
Frustration risk	Emergent narrative	13	60	34	1.22
Mastery	Calculation	9	57	25	1.21
Consequence weight	Frustration risk	16	43	60	1.18
Frustration risk	Grind	7	60	19	1.17
Consequence weight	Fear of missing out	5	43	19	1.17
Consequence weight	Volatility	8	43	31	1.15
Tension	Spectacle	5	84	10	1.14
Planning	Ownership	15	87	29	1.14
Mastery	Inference	6	57	18	1.12
Mastery	Contested fairness	6	57	18	1.12
Flow	Frustration risk	8	23	60	1.11
Planning	Inference	9	87	18	1.10
Calculation	Tension	12	25	84	1.09
Tension	Emergent narrative	16	84	34	1.07
Calculation	Consequence weight	6	25	43	1.07
Planning	Tension	39	87	84	1.02
Discovery	Tension	8	18	84	1.01
Mastery	Frustration risk	18	57	60	1.01
Mastery	Teamwork	6	57	20	1.01
Mastery	Replayability	6	57	20	1.01
Tension	Consequence weight	19	84	43	1.00
Mastery	Planning	26	57	87	1.00
Planning	Downtime	5	87	11	1.00
Execution	Tension	7	16	84	0.99
Tension	Grind	8	84	19	0.96
Tension	Contested fairness	7	84	18	0.88
Frustration risk	Contested fairness	5	60	18	0.88
Mastery	Tension	22	57	84	0.88
Tension	Compulsion	5	84	13	0.87
Tension	Runaway leader	5	84	13	0.87
Tension	Frustration risk	23	84	60	0.87
Planning	Consequence weight	17	87	43	0.87
Discovery	Planning	7	18	87	0.85
Frustration risk	Teamwork	5	60	20	0.80
Planning	Replayability	7	87	20	0.77
Tension	Volatility	10	84	31	0.73
Mastery	Ownership	6	57	29	0.69
Planning	Flow	7	87	23	0.67
Planning	Teamwork	6	87	20	0.66
Mastery	Volatility	6	57	31	0.65
Spatial reasoning	Tension	9	32	84	0.64
Planning	Frustration risk	17	87	60	0.62
Spatial reasoning	Frustration risk	6	32	60	0.60
Planning	Emergent narrative	9	87	34	0.58
Tension	Flow	5	84	23	0.49
Planning	Volatility	6	87	31	0.42
Tension	Ownership	5	84	29	0.39
Mastery	Consequence weight	5	57	43	0.39

Property values and effects

For each property value, the effects carried by at least 5 of the mechanics with that value. "With value" is the share of those mechanics carrying the effect; "Overall" is the share across all191; lift is the first divided by the second. Also in property-effects.csv.

Property	Value	Effect		With value	Overall
Interaction	cooperative	Teamwork	5	83%	10%	7.96
Information	asymmetric	Social deduction	7	18%	4%	5.03
Interaction	mixed	Teamwork	14	52%	10%	4.95
Information	hidden	Discovery	8	44%	9%	4.72
Interaction	mixed	Betrayal	5	19%	4%	4.42
Information	asymmetric	Bluffing	13	34%	8%	4.36
Feedback loop	positive	Runaway leader	10	29%	7%	4.20
Information	asymmetric	Inference	15	39%	9%	4.19
Feedback loop	positive	Engine satisfaction	8	23%	6%	3.97
Interaction	direct	Kingmaking	9	27%	7%	3.72
Information	hidden	Fear of missing out	6	33%	10%	3.35
Player agency	high	Analysis paralysis	14	36%	11%	3.26
Randomness	output	Volatility	15	52%	16%	3.19
Interaction	mixed	Contested fairness	8	30%	9%	3.14
Information	asymmetric	Betrayal	5	13%	4%	3.14
Player agency	high	Engine satisfaction	7	18%	6%	3.12
Interaction	direct	Bluffing	8	24%	8%	3.09
Complexity	high	Ownership	7	47%	15%	3.07
Complexity	high	Analysis paralysis	5	33%	11%	3.03
Pacing effect	accelerates	Runaway leader	10	20%	7%	2.94
Complexity	high	Volatility	7	47%	16%	2.88
Randomness	input	Inference	9	26%	9%	2.81
Information	hidden	Replayability	5	28%	10%	2.65
Decision density	high	Analysis paralysis	6	29%	11%	2.60
Decision density	high	Ownership	8	38%	15%	2.51
Pacing effect	accelerates	Engine satisfaction	7	14%	6%	2.43
Player agency	high	Ownership	14	36%	15%	2.36
Interaction	indirect	Fear of missing out	11	23%	10%	2.35
Interaction	cooperative	Tension	6	100%	44%	2.27
Decision density	high	Replayability	5	24%	10%	2.27
Information	asymmetric	Teamwork	9	24%	10%	2.26
Interaction	direct	Runaway leader	5	15%	7%	2.23
Information	hidden	Ownership	6	33%	15%	2.20
Player agency	high	Kingmaking	6	15%	7%	2.10
Feedback loop	positive	Compulsion	5	14%	7%	2.10
Player agency	high	Spatial reasoning	13	33%	17%	1.99
Randomness	input	Teamwork	7	21%	10%	1.97
Interaction	mixed	Inference	5	19%	9%	1.97
Feedback loop	positive	Calculation	9	26%	13%	1.96
Player agency	low	Compulsion	8	13%	7%	1.96
Complexity	low	Negotiation	6	7%	4%	1.95
Randomness	output	Emergent narrative	10	34%	18%	1.94
Pacing effect	variable	Frustration risk	6	60%	31%	1.91
Player agency	high	Contested fairness	7	18%	9%	1.90
Player agency	high	Runaway leader	5	13%	7%	1.88
Randomness	input	Contested fairness	6	18%	9%	1.87
Complexity	high	Emergent narrative	5	33%	18%	1.87
Interaction	indirect	Downtime	5	11%	6%	1.85
Interaction	solo	Grind	14	18%	10%	1.80
Interaction	indirect	Spatial reasoning	14	30%	17%	1.78
Feedback loop	positive	Consequence weight	14	40%	23%	1.78
Information	hidden	Frustration risk	10	56%	31%	1.77
Randomness	output	Frustration risk	16	55%	31%	1.76
Interaction	direct	Consequence weight	13	39%	23%	1.75
Randomness	output	Grind	5	17%	10%	1.73
Feedback loop	positive	Grind	6	17%	10%	1.72
Interaction	solo	Replayability	14	18%	10%	1.71
Interaction	solo	Spectacle	7	9%	5%	1.71
Pacing effect	decelerates	Emergent narrative	7	30%	18%	1.71
Feedback loop	positive	Ownership	9	26%	15%	1.69
Randomness	input	Replayability	6	18%	10%	1.69
Interaction	direct	Volatility	9	27%	16%	1.68
Player agency	low	Grind	10	17%	10%	1.68
Information	asymmetric	Contested fairness	6	16%	9%	1.68
Player agency	medium	Bluffing	12	13%	8%	1.66
Player agency	low	Frustration risk	31	52%	31%	1.64
Player agency	low	Volatility	16	27%	16%	1.64
Interaction	solo	Sunk cost	8	10%	6%	1.63
Information	asymmetric	Emergent narrative	11	29%	18%	1.63
Complexity	low	Kingmaking	10	12%	7%	1.62
Pacing effect	decelerates	Planning	17	74%	46%	1.62
Interaction	direct	Calculation	7	21%	13%	1.62
Player agency	medium	Inference	14	15%	9%	1.61
Interaction	direct	Inference	5	15%	9%	1.61
Interaction	direct	Contested fairness	5	15%	9%	1.61
Randomness	input	Analysis paralysis	6	18%	11%	1.61
Player agency	low	Spectacle	5	8%	5%	1.59
Interaction	solo	Engine satisfaction	7	9%	6%	1.56
Information	asymmetric	Tension	26	68%	44%	1.56
Interaction	indirect	Analysis paralysis	8	17%	11%	1.55
Randomness	none	Negotiation	7	6%	4%	1.53
Interaction	solo	Ownership	18	23%	15%	1.52
Complexity	low	Inference	12	14%	9%	1.52
Interaction	solo	Compulsion	8	10%	7%	1.51
Complexity	medium	Contested fairness	13	14%	9%	1.50
Interaction	solo	Discovery	11	14%	9%	1.50
Pacing effect	accelerates	Flow	9	18%	12%	1.49
Interaction	solo	Flow	14	18%	12%	1.49
Decision density	medium	Discovery	10	14%	9%	1.47
Decision density	medium	Inference	10	14%	9%	1.47
Player agency	high	Planning	26	67%	46%	1.46
Decision density	high	Planning	14	67%	46%	1.46
Pacing effect	accelerates	Emergent narrative	13	26%	18%	1.46
Information	perfect	Compulsion	13	10%	7%	1.46
Player agency	low	Downtime	5	8%	6%	1.45
Decision density	high	Mastery	9	43%	30%	1.44
Pacing effect	accelerates	Execution	6	12%	8%	1.43
Player agency	medium	Execution	11	12%	8%	1.43
Feedback loop	none	Negotiation	7	5%	4%	1.43
Feedback loop	none	Alpha player	6	4%	3%	1.43
Feedback loop	none	Betrayal	8	6%	4%	1.43
Decision density	high	Spatial reasoning	5	24%	17%	1.42
Randomness	none	Runaway leader	12	10%	7%	1.41
Feedback loop	positive	Volatility	8	23%	16%	1.41
Player agency	low	Consequence weight	19	32%	23%	1.41
Feedback loop	negative	Tension	8	62%	44%	1.40
Information	asymmetric	Discovery	5	13%	9%	1.40
Complexity	low	Flow	14	17%	12%	1.38
Decision density	medium	Flow	12	17%	12%	1.38
Pacing effect	decelerates	Frustration risk	10	43%	31%	1.38
Pacing effect	neutral	Contested fairness	14	13%	9%	1.38
Pacing effect	accelerates	Calculation	9	18%	13%	1.38
Player agency	high	Calculation	7	18%	13%	1.37
Information	perfect	Execution	15	11%	8%	1.37
Interaction	solo	Consequence weight	24	31%	23%	1.37
Decision density	low	Replayability	14	14%	10%	1.36
Complexity	medium	Spatial reasoning	21	23%	17%	1.36
Interaction	direct	Emergent narrative	8	24%	18%	1.36
Interaction	indirect	Planning	29	62%	46%	1.35
Interaction	indirect	Mastery	19	40%	30%	1.35
Pacing effect	decelerates	Consequence weight	7	30%	23%	1.35
Interaction	mixed	Tension	16	59%	44%	1.35
Randomness	input	Tension	20	59%	44%	1.34
Randomness	none	Spatial reasoning	28	22%	17%	1.34
Randomness	none	Execution	14	11%	8%	1.34
Pacing effect	accelerates	Consequence weight	15	30%	23%	1.33
Decision density	medium	Teamwork	10	14%	10%	1.33
Decision density	medium	Emergent narrative	17	24%	18%	1.33
Pacing effect	neutral	Betrayal	6	6%	4%	1.33
Complexity	medium	Engine satisfaction	7	8%	6%	1.32
Pacing effect	accelerates	Spatial reasoning	11	22%	17%	1.31
Interaction	direct	Tension	19	58%	44%	1.31
Interaction	indirect	Calculation	8	17%	13%	1.30
Pacing effect	decelerates	Spatial reasoning	5	22%	17%	1.30
Randomness	none	Compulsion	11	9%	7%	1.29
Complexity	medium	Ownership	18	20%	15%	1.29
Information	perfect	Calculation	22	17%	13%	1.28
Randomness	input	Mastery	13	38%	30%	1.28
Complexity	medium	Runaway leader	8	9%	7%	1.28
Player agency	low	Replayability	8	13%	10%	1.27
Randomness	none	Alpha player	5	4%	3%	1.27
Pacing effect	accelerates	Inference	6	12%	9%	1.27
Decision density	low	Consequence weight	28	29%	23%	1.27
Player agency	medium	Discovery	11	12%	9%	1.27
Randomness	input	Volatility	7	21%	16%	1.27
Information	perfect	Flow	20	15%	12%	1.27
Player agency	medium	Flow	14	15%	12%	1.26
Pacing effect	neutral	Analysis paralysis	15	14%	11%	1.26
Pacing effect	neutral	Negotiation	5	5%	4%	1.26
Pacing effect	neutral	Social deduction	5	5%	4%	1.26
Decision density	low	Volatility	20	20%	16%	1.26
Decision density	medium	Fear of missing out	9	13%	10%	1.26
Randomness	none	Engine satisfaction	9	7%	6%	1.25
Interaction	mixed	Emergent narrative	6	22%	18%	1.25
Complexity	medium	Teamwork	12	13%	10%	1.25
Complexity	medium	Replayability	12	13%	10%	1.25
Complexity	low	Downtime	6	7%	6%	1.24
Feedback loop	none	Flow	20	15%	12%	1.24
Decision density	medium	Bluffing	7	10%	8%	1.24
Information	hidden	Consequence weight	5	28%	23%	1.23
Information	perfect	Runaway leader	11	8%	7%	1.23
Randomness	output	Consequence weight	8	28%	23%	1.23
Interaction	solo	Frustration risk	30	38%	31%	1.22
Complexity	low	Compulsion	7	8%	7%	1.22
Player agency	high	Replayability	5	13%	10%	1.22
Feedback loop	none	Kingmaking	12	9%	7%	1.22
Feedback loop	none	Social deduction	6	4%	4%	1.22
Feedback loop	mixed	Planning	5	56%	46%	1.22
Interaction	indirect	Replayability	6	13%	10%	1.22
Player agency	low	Emergent narrative	13	22%	18%	1.22
Complexity	low	Bluffing	8	10%	8%	1.21
Player agency	medium	Tension	49	53%	44%	1.21
Pacing effect	neutral	Fear of missing out	13	12%	10%	1.21
Player agency	high	Mastery	14	36%	30%	1.20
Complexity	medium	Fear of missing out	11	12%	10%	1.20
Decision density	low	Frustration risk	37	38%	31%	1.20
Decision density	medium	Tension	38	53%	44%	1.20
Decision density	low	Compulsion	8	8%	7%	1.20
Randomness	none	Flow	18	14%	12%	1.20
Feedback loop	positive	Spatial reasoning	7	20%	17%	1.19
Information	perfect	Engine satisfaction	9	7%	6%	1.19
Information	perfect	Downtime	9	7%	6%	1.19
Decision density	high	Tension	11	52%	44%	1.19
Feedback loop	none	Inference	15	11%	9%	1.19
Pacing effect	decelerates	Tension	12	52%	44%	1.19
Interaction	solo	Volatility	15	19%	16%	1.18
Information	perfect	Spatial reasoning	26	20%	17%	1.18
Feedback loop	negative	Planning	7	54%	46%	1.18
Pacing effect	neutral	Inference	12	11%	9%	1.18
Pacing effect	neutral	Bluffing	10	9%	8%	1.18
Decision density	medium	Contested fairness	8	11%	9%	1.18
Randomness	none	Consequence weight	33	26%	23%	1.17
Complexity	high	Planning	8	53%	46%	1.17
Decision density	low	Spectacle	6	6%	5%	1.17
Information	perfect	Spectacle	8	6%	5%	1.17
Feedback loop	none	Downtime	9	7%	6%	1.17
Complexity	medium	Consequence weight	24	26%	23%	1.16
Pacing effect	neutral	Ownership	19	18%	15%	1.16
Randomness	input	Emergent narrative	7	21%	18%	1.16
Interaction	solo	Emergent narrative	16	21%	18%	1.15
Pacing effect	neutral	Teamwork	13	12%	10%	1.15
Pacing effect	neutral	Replayability	13	12%	10%	1.15
Pacing effect	accelerates	Frustration risk	18	36%	31%	1.15
Player agency	medium	Teamwork	11	12%	10%	1.14
Feedback loop	none	Teamwork	16	12%	10%	1.14
Feedback loop	none	Bluffing	12	9%	8%	1.14
Pacing effect	accelerates	Tension	25	50%	44%	1.14
Information	hidden	Tension	9	50%	44%	1.14
Complexity	low	Execution	8	10%	8%	1.14
Decision density	low	Sunk cost	7	7%	6%	1.14
Decision density	medium	Kingmaking	6	8%	7%	1.14
Complexity	low	Spectacle	5	6%	5%	1.14
Pacing effect	variable	Tension	5	50%	44%	1.14
Pacing effect	neutral	Calculation	16	15%	13%	1.13
Player agency	medium	Mastery	31	34%	30%	1.13
Interaction	indirect	Inference	5	11%	9%	1.13
Information	perfect	Volatility	24	18%	16%	1.13
Randomness	none	Grind	14	11%	10%	1.13
Feedback loop	positive	Emergent narrative	7	20%	18%	1.12
Randomness	input	Calculation	5	15%	13%	1.12
Interaction	indirect	Ownership	8	17%	15%	1.12
Pacing effect	accelerates	Volatility	9	18%	16%	1.11
Feedback loop	none	Discovery	14	10%	9%	1.11
Randomness	none	Ownership	21	17%	15%	1.11
Feedback loop	none	Mastery	44	33%	30%	1.10
Decision density	medium	Ownership	12	17%	15%	1.10
Decision density	low	Spatial reasoning	18	18%	17%	1.10
Information	perfect	Sunk cost	9	7%	6%	1.09
Complexity	medium	Grind	10	11%	10%	1.09
Randomness	none	Kingmaking	10	8%	7%	1.09
Decision density	low	Calculation	14	14%	13%	1.09
Complexity	medium	Analysis paralysis	11	12%	11%	1.09
Feedback loop	none	Analysis paralysis	16	12%	11%	1.09
Complexity	low	Tension	40	48%	44%	1.08
Complexity	medium	Calculation	13	14%	13%	1.08
Information	perfect	Mastery	42	32%	30%	1.07
Information	perfect	Grind	14	11%	10%	1.07
Information	perfect	Planning	64	49%	46%	1.07
Randomness	none	Mastery	40	32%	30%	1.07
Randomness	none	Planning	61	49%	46%	1.07
Interaction	solo	Planning	38	49%	46%	1.07
Feedback loop	none	Spatial reasoning	24	18%	17%	1.07
Feedback loop	none	Execution	12	9%	8%	1.07
Decision density	medium	Planning	35	49%	46%	1.07
Complexity	low	Frustration risk	28	33%	31%	1.06
Player agency	low	Discovery	6	10%	9%	1.06
Pacing effect	neutral	Spectacle	6	6%	5%	1.06
Information	perfect	Ownership	21	16%	15%	1.06
Pacing effect	neutral	Mastery	34	31%	30%	1.05
Player agency	medium	Planning	44	48%	46%	1.05
Complexity	medium	Planning	44	48%	46%	1.05
Randomness	none	Fear of missing out	13	10%	10%	1.05
Information	perfect	Kingmaking	10	8%	7%	1.04
Information	perfect	Analysis paralysis	15	11%	11%	1.04
Complexity	medium	Discovery	9	10%	9%	1.04
Player agency	medium	Sunk cost	6	7%	6%	1.04
Complexity	medium	Execution	8	9%	8%	1.04
Complexity	low	Mastery	26	31%	30%	1.04
Randomness	input	Planning	16	47%	46%	1.03
Pacing effect	neutral	Sunk cost	7	6%	6%	1.03
Randomness	input	Frustration risk	11	32%	31%	1.03
Feedback loop	none	Contested fairness	13	10%	9%	1.03
Complexity	low	Volatility	14	17%	16%	1.03
Decision density	low	Grind	10	10%	10%	1.03
Decision density	medium	Mastery	22	31%	30%	1.02
Feedback loop	none	Frustration risk	43	32%	31%	1.02
Decision density	medium	Runaway leader	5	7%	7%	1.02
Complexity	medium	Mastery	28	30%	30%	1.02
Randomness	none	Analysis paralysis	14	11%	11%	1.02
Randomness	none	Bluffing	10	8%	8%	1.02
Player agency	medium	Consequence weight	21	23%	23%	1.01
Pacing effect	neutral	Kingmaking	8	7%	7%	1.01
Decision density	medium	Analysis paralysis	8	11%	11%	1.01
Player agency	high	Emergent narrative	7	18%	18%	1.01
Feedback loop	none	Emergent narrative	24	18%	18%	1.01
Player agency	low	Fear of missing out	6	10%	10%	1.01
Player agency	medium	Volatility	15	16%	16%	1.00
Feedback loop	positive	Frustration risk	11	31%	31%	1.00
Feedback loop	none	Spectacle	7	5%	5%	1.00
Player agency	medium	Calculation	12	13%	13%	1.00
Pacing effect	neutral	Planning	49	45%	46%	1.00
Decision density	medium	Execution	6	8%	8%	0.99
Randomness	none	Replayability	13	10%	10%	0.99
Feedback loop	none	Tension	58	43%	44%	0.98
Player agency	medium	Fear of missing out	9	10%	10%	0.98
Information	perfect	Consequence weight	29	22%	23%	0.98
Feedback loop	none	Planning	60	45%	46%	0.98
Pacing effect	neutral	Discovery	10	9%	9%	0.98
Decision density	medium	Grind	7	10%	10%	0.98
Complexity	medium	Emergent narrative	16	17%	18%	0.98
Feedback loop	none	Fear of missing out	13	10%	10%	0.98
Decision density	low	Contested fairness	9	9%	9%	0.97
Decision density	low	Kingmaking	7	7%	7%	0.97
Decision density	low	Execution	8	8%	8%	0.97
Information	asymmetric	Volatility	6	16%	16%	0.97
Complexity	medium	Frustration risk	28	30%	31%	0.97
Randomness	input	Ownership	5	15%	15%	0.97
Interaction	indirect	Tension	20	43%	44%	0.97
Pacing effect	neutral	Downtime	6	6%	6%	0.96
Complexity	medium	Tension	39	42%	44%	0.96
Complexity	low	Fear of missing out	8	10%	10%	0.96
Pacing effect	accelerates	Teamwork	5	10%	10%	0.96
Decision density	medium	Calculation	9	13%	13%	0.95
Randomness	none	Betrayal	5	4%	4%	0.95
Information	perfect	Frustration risk	39	30%	31%	0.95
Complexity	low	Sunk cost	5	6%	6%	0.95
Complexity	medium	Downtime	5	5%	6%	0.94
Feedback loop	positive	Planning	15	43%	46%	0.94
Information	asymmetric	Consequence weight	8	21%	23%	0.94
Player agency	medium	Frustration risk	27	29%	31%	0.93
Randomness	none	Discovery	11	9%	9%	0.93
Interaction	solo	Analysis paralysis	8	10%	11%	0.93
Information	hidden	Mastery	5	28%	30%	0.93
Pacing effect	neutral	Grind	10	9%	10%	0.93
Randomness	none	Tension	51	41%	44%	0.93
Feedback loop	none	Replayability	13	10%	10%	0.93
Decision density	low	Fear of missing out	9	9%	10%	0.92
Pacing effect	accelerates	Planning	21	42%	46%	0.92
Information	asymmetric	Frustration risk	11	29%	31%	0.92
Feedback loop	none	Volatility	20	15%	16%	0.92
Interaction	solo	Execution	6	8%	8%	0.92
Randomness	none	Calculation	15	12%	13%	0.92
Complexity	low	Planning	35	42%	46%	0.91
Pacing effect	neutral	Volatility	16	15%	16%	0.91
Feedback loop	positive	Tension	14	40%	44%	0.91
Complexity	low	Calculation	10	12%	13%	0.91
Player agency	medium	Spatial reasoning	14	15%	17%	0.91
Interaction	solo	Mastery	21	27%	30%	0.90
Interaction	solo	Fear of missing out	7	9%	10%	0.90
Randomness	none	Sunk cost	7	6%	6%	0.89
Player agency	medium	Kingmaking	6	7%	7%	0.89
Decision density	low	Mastery	26	27%	30%	0.89
Decision density	low	Downtime	5	5%	6%	0.89
Decision density	medium	Frustration risk	20	28%	31%	0.88
Pacing effect	neutral	Tension	42	39%	44%	0.88
Pacing effect	neutral	Spatial reasoning	16	15%	17%	0.88
Pacing effect	neutral	Execution	8	7%	8%	0.88
Player agency	low	Contested fairness	5	8%	9%	0.88
Player agency	medium	Grind	8	9%	10%	0.87
Pacing effect	decelerates	Mastery	6	26%	30%	0.87
Player agency	low	Tension	23	38%	44%	0.87
Pacing effect	accelerates	Mastery	13	26%	30%	0.87
Complexity	low	Emergent narrative	13	15%	18%	0.87
Interaction	mixed	Mastery	7	26%	30%	0.87
Interaction	direct	Frustration risk	9	27%	31%	0.87
Complexity	medium	Sunk cost	5	5%	6%	0.87
Randomness	output	Tension	11	38%	44%	0.86
Decision density	low	Emergent narrative	15	15%	18%	0.86
Information	perfect	Emergent narrative	20	15%	18%	0.86
Player agency	medium	Emergent narrative	14	15%	18%	0.85
Information	hidden	Planning	7	39%	46%	0.85
Decision density	low	Planning	38	39%	46%	0.85
Decision density	low	Flow	10	10%	12%	0.85
Pacing effect	neutral	Flow	11	10%	12%	0.85
Randomness	none	Frustration risk	33	26%	31%	0.84
Randomness	none	Teamwork	11	9%	10%	0.84
Feedback loop	none	Sunk cost	7	5%	6%	0.83
Player agency	low	Flow	6	10%	12%	0.83
Complexity	medium	Bluffing	6	7%	8%	0.83
Interaction	mixed	Frustration risk	7	26%	31%	0.83
Pacing effect	neutral	Consequence weight	20	19%	23%	0.82
Pacing effect	neutral	Compulsion	6	6%	7%	0.82
Information	perfect	Tension	47	36%	44%	0.82
Interaction	indirect	Frustration risk	12	26%	31%	0.81
Complexity	medium	Flow	9	10%	12%	0.81
Interaction	direct	Mastery	8	24%	30%	0.81
Decision density	low	Tension	35	36%	44%	0.81
Decision density	medium	Consequence weight	13	18%	23%	0.80
Information	perfect	Replayability	11	8%	10%	0.80
Player agency	medium	Compulsion	5	5%	7%	0.80
Player agency	medium	Runaway leader	5	5%	7%	0.80
Complexity	medium	Compulsion	5	5%	7%	0.80
Complexity	low	Teamwork	7	8%	10%	0.80
Player agency	low	Teamwork	5	8%	10%	0.80
Complexity	low	Consequence weight	15	18%	23%	0.79
Pacing effect	accelerates	Ownership	6	12%	15%	0.79
Player agency	medium	Ownership	11	12%	15%	0.79
Feedback loop	none	Ownership	16	12%	15%	0.79
Interaction	solo	Calculation	8	10%	13%	0.78
Information	perfect	Fear of missing out	10	8%	10%	0.77
Pacing effect	neutral	Frustration risk	26	24%	31%	0.77
Feedback loop	positive	Mastery	8	23%	30%	0.77
Interaction	solo	Spatial reasoning	10	13%	17%	0.77
Randomness	none	Emergent narrative	17	14%	18%	0.76
Player agency	low	Calculation	6	10%	13%	0.76
Randomness	none	Spectacle	5	4%	5%	0.76
Randomness	none	Inference	9	7%	9%	0.76
Randomness	none	Contested fairness	9	7%	9%	0.76
Decision density	low	Discovery	7	7%	9%	0.76
Decision density	low	Inference	7	7%	9%	0.76
Complexity	low	Discovery	6	7%	9%	0.76
Complexity	high	Tension	5	33%	44%	0.76
Information	asymmetric	Planning	13	34%	46%	0.75
Feedback loop	none	Grind	10	7%	10%	0.75
Decision density	low	Runaway leader	5	5%	7%	0.75
Decision density	medium	Spatial reasoning	9	13%	17%	0.75
Feedback loop	none	Consequence weight	22	16%	23%	0.73
Information	perfect	Contested fairness	9	7%	9%	0.73
Player agency	medium	Replayability	7	8%	10%	0.73
Complexity	low	Grind	6	7%	10%	0.72
Complexity	low	Spatial reasoning	10	12%	17%	0.71
Player agency	high	Tension	12	31%	44%	0.70
Randomness	none	Downtime	5	4%	6%	0.69
Player agency	medium	Analysis paralysis	7	8%	11%	0.69
Player agency	medium	Contested fairness	6	7%	9%	0.69
Complexity	medium	Inference	6	7%	9%	0.69
Decision density	low	Teamwork	7	7%	10%	0.68
Randomness	output	Planning	9	31%	46%	0.68
Interaction	solo	Tension	23	29%	44%	0.67
Player agency	low	Mastery	12	20%	30%	0.67
Complexity	medium	Volatility	10	11%	16%	0.67
Interaction	direct	Planning	10	30%	46%	0.67
Feedback loop	none	Compulsion	6	4%	7%	0.66
Decision density	low	Bluffing	5	5%	8%	0.65
Decision density	low	Analysis paralysis	7	7%	11%	0.65
Complexity	low	Contested fairness	5	6%	9%	0.63
Feedback loop	none	Calculation	11	8%	13%	0.63
Player agency	low	Planning	17	28%	46%	0.62
Information	asymmetric	Mastery	7	18%	30%	0.62
Decision density	low	Ownership	9	9%	15%	0.60
Decision density	medium	Volatility	7	10%	16%	0.60
Information	perfect	Teamwork	8	6%	10%	0.58
Pacing effect	neutral	Emergent narrative	11	10%	18%	0.57
Complexity	low	Replayability	5	6%	10%	0.57
Complexity	low	Analysis paralysis	5	6%	11%	0.54
Player agency	low	Spatial reasoning	5	8%	17%	0.50
Interaction	mixed	Planning	6	22%	46%	0.49
Information	perfect	Discovery	5	4%	9%	0.41
Randomness	none	Volatility	7	6%	16%	0.35

Earliest documented use by era and medium

Each mechanic's earliest documented use, placed by the era of its year and the medium it is recorded in. Medium here is the provenance medium, the one the earliest use belongs to, not every medium the mechanic now appears in. Origins without a year or a medium are counted below the table. Select a cell to list its mechanics; the timeline shows every dated point.

Earliest documented use by era and medium: all named origins
Era	Video	Tabletop RPG	Board & card	Physical	Print	Total
Before 1800	0	0			0	14
1800–1899	0	0			0	11
1900–1949	0	0				18
1950–1979				0		47
1980–1999					0	43
2000 onward					0	33
Total	47	33	73	11	2	166

166 mechanics placed; 25 at these confidence levels name an origin without a year or a medium; 0 are outside the selection or name no origin.

Earliest documented use by era and medium: high and medium confidence only
Era	Video	Tabletop RPG	Board & card	Physical	Print	Total
Before 1800	0	0			0	12
1800–1899	0	0			0	6
1900–1949	0	0			0	10
1950–1979				0		42
1980–1999					0	28
2000 onward					0	23
Total	30	29	55	6	1	121

121 mechanics placed; 0 at these confidence levels name an origin without a year or a medium; 70 are outside the selection or name no origin.