For this exercise I am going to choose Monopoly and the mechanic of having to negotiate/trade/buy with other players in order to be able to win the game. In monopoly the only way to bankrupt and beat other players is by developing houses and hotels (usually in the light blue, orange and purple sections since they are affordable to build). In order to do so you either have to get extremely lucky to be the first person to land on all three spots or in most of the matches, trade with other players. This is my favorite mechanic and a very critical one. Having to convince people to sell or tarde you their properties is quite a challenge, it is the art and science of pure negotiation. There is no structure around what and how you can negotiate so that allows a growing complexity in the deals as players become more experienced. I would qualify this mechanic falling into the following categories of aesthetic according to the reading: challenge, fellowship, and expression. Challenge because each of the negotiations has somewhat of a winner and loser, so winning the negation is key, fellowship as you compete with other players and enjoy the moment with them, and finally expression because you aer able to conjure up different acts, arguments and ideas for each negotiation.
