Exercise: Pick a game you love, and identify a set of mechanics that create a dynamic that makes a certain kind of fun for you.
One game I’ve really enjoyed recently is Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
Some of the mechanics unique to this game that weren’t found in previous main series Pokemon games were the ability to interact with Pokemon in the overworld– that is, without necessarily having to engage them in battle. In conjunction with the new 3rd person point of view and 360 degree camera view, this was a stark departure from the typical top-down Pokemon games. You can throw Pokeballs and catch Pokemon directly in the world, as well as get attacked by Pokemon directly in the wild. You can even run around dodging Pokemon attacks, and even throw balls of food at the frenzied Pokemon “bosses.” There’s a real chance that wild Pokemon will knock you (the trainer) out directly, creating a sense of danger and immersion that was never really present in previous games, since all damage used to happen between Pokemon in battles only. I personally found these changes really fun, as it made the game much faster paced, since simply throwing Pokeballs was a much faster way to catch Pokemon than having to battle them, and being able to interact with Pokemon in the overworld added to the sense of immersion in the game.
(SPOILER ALERT) One really unique mechanic was in the final fight against Volo– it’s effectively an 8 Pokemon battle with Giratina’s 2 forms, making it one of the hardest Pokemon battles I’ve ever had in the like 10 different Pokemon games that I’ve played. In addition, the battle mechanics changed slightly to where 1) Pokemon hit way harder for some reason and 2) the strong and agile move system added in a new aspect of strategy. Wild Pokemon and other trainers being able to use strong and agile moves also made the game more challenging. As a result, there’s a stronger sense of danger when encountering strong Pokemon, adding to the sense of challenge.
These mechanics and dynamics work to create the core aesthetics of fantasy and discovery, with a slight aspect of challenge. Because of the third person views and ability to interact with Pokemon in the overworld, you feel immersed in the world as a Pokemon trainer, and because of the random Pokemon spawns it always feels like there’s something new to find or catch.
