Game Mechanics

“the guts of a design document” – Richard Rouse (2005)

“They describe what the players are able to do in the game-world, how they do it, and how that leads to a compelling game experience.”

“game mechanics are rule based system/simulations that facilitate and encourage a user to explore and learn the properties of their possibility space through the use of feedback mechanisms” – Cook (2005)

“a particular set of rules available to the player in the form of prescribed causal relations between game elements and their consequence to particular game states” – Jarvinen (2008)

Game mechanics are constructs of rules intended to produce a game or gameplay.  Interaction of various game mechanics in a game determines the complexity and level of player interaction in the game.
Examples of game mechanics:
Turns – dice role, goes in chess etc
Action points  - control what the players may do on their turns
Auction or bidding – In some games the auction determines a unique player who gains a privilege, in other the auction orders all players into a sequence
Cards – monopoly for example
Capture/ eliminate – taking pieces in chess/draughts etc
Catch-up – mechanic that makes the game harder the closer you are to victory
Dice – randomiser, same as cards more or less
Movement – what way a player can move pieces in board game is governed by movement mechanics
etc
Victory condition mechanics include reaching goals, eliminating pieces, territory control or gaining the most points in a game.