The following is a list of all board game mechanics I know in this category, and that aren’t too niche. Card game mechanics are also included. I’m posting this mainly for my own reference.

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Dynamic Environment: The game board or environment changes independently of player actions, requiring adaptation to evolving circumstances. This may include weather patterns affecting movement, economic cycles changing the value of actions, or neutral elements that move according to predetermined rules. Players must anticipate these changes and incorporate them into their strategic planning.

Example Implementation: A farming game where climate patterns shift throughout play, requiring players to adapt crop selections and farming techniques to upcoming conditions rather than current ones.

Induction: Players are attempting to determine the rules governing a situation. In a typical induction games, a game master creates a hidden rule. Players then create patterns and are advised by the game master whether they match the rule or not.

Line Drawing: Games using the line drawing mechanic involve the drawing of lines in one way or another. Lines may be used to connect objects as in Sprouts, to isolate objects, or to create areas as in the classic Dots and Dashes, also known as Square-it.

Drawing of symbols or pictures is more properly classified as Drawing or Mechanism: Drawing

Mancala: In a typical Mancala mechanism, players pick up the tokens in one space, and then place them one-by-one in spaces in a specific direction around a circle, with the last space placed in having special significance.

In addition to its namesake game Kalah, this mechanism can be seen in modern games such as Finca and Theseus: The Dark Orbit.

Matching: Players must make their next play by matching a feature on the previous play. This is frequently used in shedding games like UNO or Crazy Eights, where number or color/suit need to be matched. In some implementations the next play needs to be in a number range based on the last. For example, in L.L.A.M.A. the play must be the same or one higher than the last. In Spit!, it must be one higher or lower.

Melding and Splaying: A set of cards in a specific relationship to one another that allows them to be played to a table or scored as a meld. When laying these cards down, the way the cards splay, or overlap one another, may sometimes reveal or conceal certain abilities or attributes. Rummy games have players placing combinations of cards or tiles on the table to score. Innovation is a good example of the Splaying side, where players can spread cards out to show particular sets of icons to empower abilities.

Pattern Building: Players must configure game components in sophisticated patterns in order to score or trigger actions, as would be typical for games in the Puzzle category. Azul is a modern classic designed around this mechanic. The common mechanism of Tile Placement can be considered as including pattern building via “feature completion” of connecting tiles. Sometimes the players cover a grid or fill a space using a variety of shapes, such as Components: Polyominoes. This includes the coverage of areas defined (by shape or color) on the board itself with pieces or tiles. Sometimes called a “Tetris mechanism”, this challenges players to use shapes efficiently. It can either be the primary point of the game, as in Ubongo, or as a secondary mechanism to force players to plan and restrict their options, as in The Princes of Florence.

Pattern Recognition: Players must recognize a known or emergent pattern created by the game components to gain objectives or win the game. This could for instance involve markers, typically with a color or symbol, placed to certain locations on a board, or relative to the other markers, forming an abstract or meaningful pattern, requiring deductive reasoning by players to determine its significance.

Spelling: Players arrange cards, tiles, or other components that represent an individual letter or small group of letters to create words. Examples include Scrabble and Boggle.