these are the things that everyone else
copied welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’ll be counting down our picks
for the top 10 most influential gameplay
mechanics you’re going up there yes
readings that lab suggests the
temperature malfunction could affect
your viability you need to adjust
settings manually mechanics we’ll be
looking at four today are the ones that
created a genre unto themselves or
change to play style forever we’re not
looking at specific rules that make up a
game with this in mind we won’t be
discussing save points brand new ideas
like the Nemesis system which haven’t
had a chance to be adopted by other
games or the ability to control camera
angles in 3d environments we’re not
saying that these mechanics are good or
bad or whether we like them or not we’re
simply saying that they were extremely
influential on future games with all
that out of the way let’s dive into our
list
number 10 retrieving your corpse
designing for failure can be tough too
many checkpoints will make your
adventurer feel too safe but if the
punishment for dying is too severe
frustration can sit in RPGs in the late
90s and early 2000s introduced the idea
that dying isn’t the end instead when
your hero falls in battle their body
lies in place waiting for you to return
if you make it back to your corpse
unscathed you can pick up where you left
off with all your loot in tow
for a modern example look no farther
that Dark Souls is infamous soul system
number nine morality system we all make
choices within the end our choices thank
in 2015 branching narratives are a dime
a dozen but it’s taking videogames a
long time to get there when the original
fable debuted it took the binary
decision-making of vintage role-playing
games and let your behavior in game
shape your appearance as well as the
world around you you have three clear
choices your majesty one lower the tax
range which one could argue would help
the poor and the hungry
this established what we consider to be
a morality system today and is the
foundation for games like tell tales
Walking Dead or Bioware’s Mass Effect
trilogy however you know it karma
Paragon slash renegade for plain old
good versus evil the morality system has
influenced a lot of major franchises now
that you’re properly informed on good
decision-making we’re going to revisit a
choice you made just a few minutes ago
and see what the correct thing to do
would have been number eight climbing
as long as games have been around
platforms have existed things to bounce
off spaces on which to land but with 3d
games ground needed to be held up and
buildings needed to have walls all these
things weren’t factored into gameplay
until the early 2000s when Prince of
Persia at the sands of time debuted its
wall running mechanic this idea of using
every side of a structure truly found
its footing pun intended with Assassin’s
Creed whose parkour gameplay animated
altair using every crack crevice and
protruding surface of the city’s many
many structures alright where are you
number 7 wait X number of hours or pay
real money
say what you will about
microtransactions and aggressive mobile
notifications but there’s no denying
that the idea of speeding up gameplay
with real money has profoundly impacted
the video game industry games like
Farmville and simpsons tapped-out
prove that there’s a demand for short
form gaming on the go these titles have
been breakout hits proving that the
controversial notion of spending your
hard-earned real-world money cash for
sped up gameplay certainly isn’t going
anywhere anytime soon your lust for
power is admirable keeper number 6
QuickTime events another one of gaming’s
feverishly debated mechanics the first
mainstream game to make use of this was
technically dragon’s lair although most
people credit Shenmue II for
popularizing it
these button prompts show off when you
least expect them usually during
cinematics and ask you for quick
reflexes typically completely separating
you from the basic flow of gameplay God
of War improved the mechanic by
approximating Kratos his action with the
highlighted button and this paved the
way for more scripted video games like
heavy rain to use QuickTime events as
the central element of their stories say
what you want about QuickTime events
they’re still the best way to pay your
respects
number five aiming down the sights there
was a time when the only truly accurate
firearm in a first-person shooter was
the sniper rifle most popular shooters
including the likes of half-life didn’t
expect players to zoom in before
blasting off a few rounds now thanks to
games like Vietcong and call of duty
modern warfare almost every modern
first-person shooter has players
aiming down the sights for increased
accuracy now I am your rifle downrange
each time this dramatic shift in
shooting mechanics has brought a whole
new meaning to the idea of the headshot
number four cover mechanics did you like
aiming down the sights cover mechanics
are so prolific it’s hard to imagine a
new third-person action game without
them hiding behind a wall to avoid
gunfire may seem like second nature
today but it wasn’t until wind back
covert offs in 1999 that the feature
first showed up in a shooter
after the breakout success of Gears of
War whose core shooting is built around
hiding behind cover the mechanic became
so popular that it even showed up in
series like grand theft auto for the
better and Resident Evil for the not so
better number 3z targeting with ocarina
of time in 1998 Nintendo had designed
the most ambitious game world to date
but they had a problem how does the
player keep what they need to see in
focus the solution was of course Z
targeting a mechanic that let players
zero in on one subject at a time this
lock-on maneuver was such an effective
means of managing situational awareness
that games from a wide variety of genres
make use of it these days everything
from RPGs like Kingdom Hearts to action
games like Bayonetta have you locking on
number two regenerating health was that
surprising surprising that it was
surprising that it didn’t kill you the
idea of regenerating health came into
popularity along with the original halos
regenerating shield and it completely
revamped modern shooter design being
able to take risks without worrying
about keeping your health up puts
players in charge of their play style
advocates of the system say that
regenerating health keeps you in the
moment and it reminds you that you can
die in every second but still have a
chance for a comeback we have to say the
true brilliance of regenerating health
is too full it also impacts multiplayer
design by giving revives teammates a
window to bring themselves to safety
before we name our number one pick how
about taking a look at some honorable
mentions
number one jumping on an enemy’s head it
seems so simple now landing on top of an
enemy’s head squishes them super Mario’s
world-famous technique proved that a
game mechanic should always have
multiple uses
if jumping from one platform to another
is how you keep yourself alive why not
have it be your primary means of defense
to the iconic mechanic has been
referenced in achievements spoofed in
film and most of all changed the way we
think about gameplay forever it is
definitely an easy pick for the number
one most influential game mechanic
what’s your favorite gameplay mechanic
did we miss one someone else might have
gotten it wrong let us know in the
comments and for more great top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com I shall take your
position into consideration
copied welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’ll be counting down our picks
for the top 10 most influential gameplay
mechanics you’re going up there yes
readings that lab suggests the
temperature malfunction could affect
your viability you need to adjust
settings manually mechanics we’ll be
looking at four today are the ones that
created a genre unto themselves or
change to play style forever we’re not
looking at specific rules that make up a
game with this in mind we won’t be
discussing save points brand new ideas
like the Nemesis system which haven’t
had a chance to be adopted by other
games or the ability to control camera
angles in 3d environments we’re not
saying that these mechanics are good or
bad or whether we like them or not we’re
simply saying that they were extremely
influential on future games with all
that out of the way let’s dive into our
list
number 10 retrieving your corpse
designing for failure can be tough too
many checkpoints will make your
adventurer feel too safe but if the
punishment for dying is too severe
frustration can sit in RPGs in the late
90s and early 2000s introduced the idea
that dying isn’t the end instead when
your hero falls in battle their body
lies in place waiting for you to return
if you make it back to your corpse
unscathed you can pick up where you left
off with all your loot in tow
for a modern example look no farther
that Dark Souls is infamous soul system
number nine morality system we all make
choices within the end our choices thank
in 2015 branching narratives are a dime
a dozen but it’s taking videogames a
long time to get there when the original
fable debuted it took the binary
decision-making of vintage role-playing
games and let your behavior in game
shape your appearance as well as the
world around you you have three clear
choices your majesty one lower the tax
range which one could argue would help
the poor and the hungry
this established what we consider to be
a morality system today and is the
foundation for games like tell tales
Walking Dead or Bioware’s Mass Effect
trilogy however you know it karma
Paragon slash renegade for plain old
good versus evil the morality system has
influenced a lot of major franchises now
that you’re properly informed on good
decision-making we’re going to revisit a
choice you made just a few minutes ago
and see what the correct thing to do
would have been number eight climbing
as long as games have been around
platforms have existed things to bounce
off spaces on which to land but with 3d
games ground needed to be held up and
buildings needed to have walls all these
things weren’t factored into gameplay
until the early 2000s when Prince of
Persia at the sands of time debuted its
wall running mechanic this idea of using
every side of a structure truly found
its footing pun intended with Assassin’s
Creed whose parkour gameplay animated
altair using every crack crevice and
protruding surface of the city’s many
many structures alright where are you
number 7 wait X number of hours or pay
real money
say what you will about
microtransactions and aggressive mobile
notifications but there’s no denying
that the idea of speeding up gameplay
with real money has profoundly impacted
the video game industry games like
Farmville and simpsons tapped-out
prove that there’s a demand for short
form gaming on the go these titles have
been breakout hits proving that the
controversial notion of spending your
hard-earned real-world money cash for
sped up gameplay certainly isn’t going
anywhere anytime soon your lust for
power is admirable keeper number 6
QuickTime events another one of gaming’s
feverishly debated mechanics the first
mainstream game to make use of this was
technically dragon’s lair although most
people credit Shenmue II for
popularizing it
these button prompts show off when you
least expect them usually during
cinematics and ask you for quick
reflexes typically completely separating
you from the basic flow of gameplay God
of War improved the mechanic by
approximating Kratos his action with the
highlighted button and this paved the
way for more scripted video games like
heavy rain to use QuickTime events as
the central element of their stories say
what you want about QuickTime events
they’re still the best way to pay your
respects
number five aiming down the sights there
was a time when the only truly accurate
firearm in a first-person shooter was
the sniper rifle most popular shooters
including the likes of half-life didn’t
expect players to zoom in before
blasting off a few rounds now thanks to
games like Vietcong and call of duty
modern warfare almost every modern
first-person shooter has players
aiming down the sights for increased
accuracy now I am your rifle downrange
each time this dramatic shift in
shooting mechanics has brought a whole
new meaning to the idea of the headshot
number four cover mechanics did you like
aiming down the sights cover mechanics
are so prolific it’s hard to imagine a
new third-person action game without
them hiding behind a wall to avoid
gunfire may seem like second nature
today but it wasn’t until wind back
covert offs in 1999 that the feature
first showed up in a shooter
after the breakout success of Gears of
War whose core shooting is built around
hiding behind cover the mechanic became
so popular that it even showed up in
series like grand theft auto for the
better and Resident Evil for the not so
better number 3z targeting with ocarina
of time in 1998 Nintendo had designed
the most ambitious game world to date
but they had a problem how does the
player keep what they need to see in
focus the solution was of course Z
targeting a mechanic that let players
zero in on one subject at a time this
lock-on maneuver was such an effective
means of managing situational awareness
that games from a wide variety of genres
make use of it these days everything
from RPGs like Kingdom Hearts to action
games like Bayonetta have you locking on
number two regenerating health was that
surprising surprising that it was
surprising that it didn’t kill you the
idea of regenerating health came into
popularity along with the original halos
regenerating shield and it completely
revamped modern shooter design being
able to take risks without worrying
about keeping your health up puts
players in charge of their play style
advocates of the system say that
regenerating health keeps you in the
moment and it reminds you that you can
die in every second but still have a
chance for a comeback we have to say the
true brilliance of regenerating health
is too full it also impacts multiplayer
design by giving revives teammates a
window to bring themselves to safety
before we name our number one pick how
about taking a look at some honorable
mentions
number one jumping on an enemy’s head it
seems so simple now landing on top of an
enemy’s head squishes them super Mario’s
world-famous technique proved that a
game mechanic should always have
multiple uses
if jumping from one platform to another
is how you keep yourself alive why not
have it be your primary means of defense
to the iconic mechanic has been
referenced in achievements spoofed in
film and most of all changed the way we
think about gameplay forever it is
definitely an easy pick for the number
one most influential game mechanic
what’s your favorite gameplay mechanic
did we miss one someone else might have
gotten it wrong let us know in the
comments and for more great top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com I shall take your
position into consideration
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