One mechanic that I like is from Mario Party is Chance Time, which is a pretty simple mechanic in which three timed wheels from left to right spin. The left and right wheels contain the four characters / players in the Mario Party game, and the middle spinner contains the action / mechanic that will occur between the two players. Some of the potential events that can occur are that one player gives coins to another, one player gives stars to another, or the most chaotic option: a star swap / coin swap / ALL swap. I think this mechanic is good for both casual players and more competitive players because it creates an interesting dynamic. For casual players, it gives them a chance against the more tryhard / competitive players through an event that is (mostly) luck. However, I think it adds even more nuance for competitive players; specifically, one dynamic that occurs is that the “threat of chance time” from Player A may lead to Player B taking a different option. For instance, in some of my games, a player has declined purchasing a star when another player who is losing is in range of a chance time in fear of getting swapped, as if they do not purchase the star, the swap is less consequential. Of course, casual players do not really think of these scenarios, but as someone who is extremely competitive when it comes to Mario Party myself, I think Chance Time creates a quite interesting dynamic for both casual and competitive players.
