How do you create game mechanics?

I think this is a fundamenal question of how do you become a game designer. Which is in part a matter of learning about and playing a lot of games with the creative outlook and awareness of how they work. Who are game designers, what drives them.

If you want to be a game designer more than making one game for a theme you are passionate about, then you should experiment and play lots of games, and analyze games, and read in depth reviews and such.

If you aren't naturally a designer (many of us have been designing games since we were kids, because we can't help ourselves) then start with this theme you have and try to fit itonto another game that you like. Then start fixing all the things that don't make sense, then playtest and fix the stuff that doesn't work.

Here's how I come up with mechanics. There are two different approaches I've used, and I'll outline both of them

Here's the first one:

- Think of a cool "scene" in your game that you want to happen. This could be something like "Bust into a room and shoot all the bad dudes inside," or "A seed grows into a tree," or "Slaves are being commanded to build a pyramid."

- Think of all the details that exist in that scene. Write a list if you need to. Using the seed growing into a tree example: the seed gathers nutrients from the soil and sun, the roots expand to reach water, leaves bloom, bugs and animals try to eat it, etc (don't stop here, there are still lots more things for this list). Some of the things in that list will be more interesting to you than others, but write them all down anyway.

- Take your favorite things from that list and identify the verbs. Game mechanics are verbs, so the verbs are what matters most. Using the list I just wrote, the verbs that I like the best are "gather" and "expand."

- Those verbs are now your mechanics! You have a game where you are trying to expand your reach to gather resources (those nouns came from the same place those verbs did, but it's the verbs that are important). That's a network-building game. From here, you have the groundwork. You still need details like how the play space is organized, or how the resources are distributed, though. No problem.

- Look back to your inspiration to find the details. How are roots organized for plants? How to plants' roots interact with other plants? What types or resources do plants need, and how and those resources distributed in real life. Pick the details that are fun or interesting and use those.

From there, you have mechanics that are at least a starting place. You can playtest these to see how they work. Everything else comes from practice. The more you do that process, the better you get at choosing more interesting scenes and verbs and details. And as you take different mechanics from start to finished, you get a better sense for what works. Eventually, you can identify a bad mechanic before you get to the playtesting part.

Here's a second method I use for coming up with mechanics.

- Think of a feeling you want players to experience. The more specific, the better. For now, we'll go with "hope." Other possibilities include "elation," "silliness," "relief," "courage," "excitement."

- Try to identify what can create that feeling. Make a list of things that can do it. For our example of hope: see the light at the end of the tunnel, know that help is just around the corner, have a way planned through a difficult trial, etc.

- Find the verbs and pick what you want. I'm going to go with "know."

- Put the verbs with nouns from your theme. If we're going with the same theme as before (a seed grows into a tree), we can use some of the nouns we had in that other list, like "nutrients" or "water." With these, you can have a mechanics where players can gain knowledge about what or where certain resources are. Maybe some players can have knowledge other players don't. Perhaps gathering knowledge is half the game, and the other half is acting upon that knowledge.

I feel like I didn't explain the second method as clearly as the first, but I think it's because it deals with feeling, which are harder to verbalize. Hopefully this is at least some help, though.

My own video on the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfu_-A53dF8

Assorted Web Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDjrOaoHz9s

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/212625/Whats_the_best_game_dev_advice...

(I'm sure there is more... I just don't feel like looking)
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You'll notice a pattern... there is no magic methodology to make a game mechanics. The best designers in the world create plenty of crappy games... they just use them as a learning experience.

If it's not fun you need to either identify WHY it's not fun. Is it too mechanical or is it too unbalanced? Get testers involved so that they can help you identify the issues.

When you identify the actual problem you can set out to fixing it... or using that knowledge in the future.

My advice to you is to make smaller and more simple games for a while. These are easier to design, easier to build and easier to finish.

Forget about good "Ideas" and "Theme" and practice finishing a game. Even if the game isn't perfect, you will learn from the mistakes.

Without watching other people's reply. They are 2 ways to add mechanic to your game that I know so far:

1-Borrow from other games you played. Most common and efficient method.

2-Toy play. Play your game as a toy and try to pull out mechanics out of the gameplay. Useful when you really don't know what you are looking for.