Top 15 All Time Favourite Gameplay Mechanics

So as the last list that I will do this month, let's look at gameplay mechanics. These are the things that make games great and maybe not so great and its what keeps games flowing as you play. There are many of these out there, but these are just 15 of my personal favourites. There will be typical mechanics as well as some more creative mechanics so let's begin:

15 - Boss Battles

One of the most common of gameplay mechanics dating back to the early days of gaming, is boss battles. These are fights against the toughest of enemies and they really push you to the limits and you better be ready for them because if you're not, its game over. Now the ways boss battles play out can be anything. they may need a certain number of hits to take down, they may have a health bar which will go down over time, you may even have to take them down like other enemies in an RPG format. But those are just the more common of ways to do it as some developers use more creative ways of making great boss battles such as the one above which comes from God of War III. Boss battles may be of a rarity in this day of gaming, but they are great in many ways and we enjoy fighting against these big guys because for some of us, we want a challenge and this can also be the way that people begin to unleash the rage inside them.

14 - Using Cheats

Hacking things has been a big deal for a very long time, but in the early days of gaming, some developers thought to give players what are known as cheats. These are basically codes that you input into the game's code area as it were and the cheat will give you something in return. This can be anything like levels, items, music, a change of appearance, anything. I suppose in many ways, its the developers way of saying "thank you for playing this game and find codes so that we can give you something in return" or something like that. How ever you see it, cheats are there to give you goodies or to help you in the game if you're just too lazy for it.

13 - Making Combo Moves

In most fighting and hack and slash games, one common element that's seen in those games, is the ability to use a wide range of moves and make what's known as combos. These combos start something known as a multiplier whereby you keep button mashing and fighting enemies and for every hit you do, the multiplier will rise up and will give you the best score imaginable. It can be hard work and would take time to perfect the skill, but once you get the hang of it, you will then be quite the formidable opponent against your enemies (in the game of course, not in real life).

12 - Having a Variety of Things to Choose From

In a lot of games, you generally have a wide range of things to choose from and these things can include anything like weapons, armour or even which character to play as. Having choices like these makes the game feel like your in control and you don't have to follow everything that the game has scripted so its all good. Unfortunately, not every game has this pleasure and generally those games are considered the worst games to be played by humans, but that's OK. Its very rare for games these days to not have a choice of things to do and its one of things that makes most games a pleasure to play.

11 - Getting a High Score

Another common gameplay mechanic that has been in games since they started is the high score system. The general concept of this is that a gamer plays the game and depending on how things play out, he/she will gain or lose points depending on how they perform in parts of the game. Its a system that has been used in games for a very long time and a lot of that time, gamers are often competitive so much that they try and improve their score over time to try and be the best and that's one of the things that's great about games. It let's you be competitive and that's always fun (well, for the most part anyway).

10 - Fighting Different Enemy Types

So a interesting way to make games you play interesting is the enemies that you come across and generally when you come across all these game guides and walkthroughs, the creator of those things would have a section that would talk about the different enemy types because even though you may come across enemies, some are more harder to defeat than others and they don't always move in quite the same way as  you'd think they would. There's regular enemies, brute enemies, big and powerful enemies, small but smart enemies and of course, the bosses.

9 - Breaking the 4th Wall Jokes

Now these jokes are used in a number of different forms of media, but its always the video games that have much of these than in films and other forms of media. This is because there is so much that one can say about a video game like the graphics, the gameplay design, the trophies/achievements, the story, the enemies and that's only the tip of the ice berg of jokes that a game can make. Now sure some games don't always have the pleasure of making fun of itself, but when they do, it generally always works which is great.

8 - Collectibles

Aside from defeating enemies and racking up the biggest score you can, another thing that gamers like to do in games, is find collectibles. While many of these are just put in for the sake of achievements and trophies, the majority of collectibles found in the game can be anything such as Easter eggs, references to other games that the developer may or may not have made, things that go into detail about the universe that the game is set in and many others. It has gamers come back to these games and explore the big world that the game has and I like it a lot. Though that being said, these collectibles may only be in the game for the sake of achievements and trophies like I said, but as long as they are in there for a reasonable reason, then I'm happy.

7 - Side Quests

So as you play through the main story, one thing that is common in most games are side quests. These quests are in the game to have players continue to play the game while going through the story and they often have you help people with things or even show a different side to a main character in the game that we haven't seen before. And some of them even play a part in the main story which is a case of if you don't do these quests successfully, you'll be dead at the end of the game. That's pretty much the gist of it and as long as they are interesting and not pointless, then I'm happy.

6 - Doing the Missions Creatively

I absolutely hate it where the game gives you nothing to work on and instead expects you to play the mission out that the developers expect you to play it. But some developers instead choose to allow the gamers to decide how every mission plays out. Say if its an assassination mission, you should be allowed to choose how to take down your enemy and have a variety of methods to choose from because in the end, that's what makes missions that more challenging, but fun. I've always wanted games to go on a path where it would let the player decide how things play out in missions and a lot of games do that already, but I do feel that there are a few that just don't do that and that's why there are some developers out there who are just in it for the money and don't put any form of care into the games they make.

5 - Stealth

Now this is what you call a challenge. Stealth is when absolute silence is needed in order to get passed certain parts of the game because if you go in all guns blazing, chances are that you won't survive for very long. Its good in a way that this is in some games because it gives you more of a challenge and you would have to literally think on your toes about how to proceed. You could sneak by the enemies entirely or take each one out quietly. Whatever way suits you best, you go for it, but trust me, making too much noise will ruin the point of stealth.

4 - Boosting Your Stats

A better way of describing this is upgrades or just levelling up. I don't know what people would call it exactly, I just put in Boosting Your Stats because that's really what it is. So in sections of a game where you're about to head into the unknown and may have to defeat a boss, you have to be properly prepared and that's where this comes in. In any situation in a game, there comes a point where you need to be ready for anything and as you progress in the game, you'll be given upgrades that will allow you to make your character more powerful and more experienced in the field that he/she is in. I do feel that there can be some gamers who just don't quite understand that while there are many like myself that do and its one of the most important things that you may have to do in a game because if you don't give your character upgrades, its game over. Simple as that.

3 - Character Customisation

For a lot of games, there is this trend whereby gamers are given the chance to create their own characters and for me personally, I like that mechanic. It makes the game feel like a true game that let's you play as your own character and not a character that developers give you. Now of course in some games, having a character that the developers give you to play as, is necessary in games like Hitman, Tomb Raider, Uncharted and many others. But for some games, being your own character makes the game more tailored to you and you alone and gives you your own personal experience and I like that.

2 - Big Open World Maps

Let's face it, there is nothing quite like an open world game. It is by far the best thing to have ever come out of the gaming industry. They are big games with a whole world to explore which can be anything like the wild west, a city, a fantasy world or even another planet entirely. They are big games and a lot of the time you spend in those games would be to explore the vast world that the open world game can give you. They are the best games to play in this age of gaming and there wouldn't be anything quite like it.

1 - Decision Making

The best thing that I find is great in any game, is the decisions. Every decision in life can alter your future in many ways with circumstances and positives coming out of it. So in a game, even the smallest of decisions can change the course of the game for better or worse. Its the thing that makes games like Mass Effect, Infamous and Grand Theft Auto great and it's one of the best mechanics that you can find in games and that is why its my number one all time favourite mechanic in a game as there is nothing else that can top it.