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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End Game Bonuses: Players earn (or lose!) bonus Victory Points (VPs) at the end of the game based on meeting victory conditions.

Highest-Lowest Scoring: Each player’s score is equal to the lowest value of several categories. Whoever has the highest lowest value is the winner.

This system is normally known as Knizia scoring. Tigris & Euphrates is an early example of this mechanism. Players are collecting four different color cubes – red, green, blue, and yellow – and their score is the color that they have the least of. A player with 12 red, 10 green, 6 blue, and 2 yellow has a final score of 2. This forces players to not be too specialized in which cubes they collect.

Highest-Lowest Scoring is a special case of Set Collection, where only complete sets are counted.

Kill Steal: Players contribute towards completing a task, but only the player who finally completes it gets a particular benefit or bonus reward (even if others share in the base level benefit).

Legacy Game: A multi-session game in which the state of each subsequent session irreversibly builds on the legacy of the previous one. Permanent and irreversible changes to the game state carry over to future plays. Components can be written on with permanent ink, torn apart, covered with stickers, and more. This mechanism was introduced in Risk Legacy. This should not be confused with the mechanism, which modifies the state between sessions, but the state can be reversed (e.g. Campaign Games). Games with reversible states existed much earlier.

Victory Points as a Resource: Victory Points (VPs) may be spent as a currency to impact the game state.

Business or Economic games that use currency and give the win to the players with the most money are common examples of this mechanism. However games with other themes like Small World also use this mechanism. Games where currency (or other resources) can contribute in a minor fashion as extra VPs at the end game (usually at some discount rate) should not be tagged with this mechanism, but rather as End Game Bonuses.

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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Algorithm Creation: Players design sequences of conditional operations or “programs” that execute automatically once set in motion. Success depends on anticipating how these algorithms will interact with a changing game state and with other players’ algorithms. This might involve programming the movement and actions of units, creating economic systems that operate independently, or establishing decision trees that respond to certain triggers.

Deck Construction: As the first step, or prior to playing the game, players create the deck they will use.

Knowledge Threshold Unlocking: Players accumulate specific types of knowledge or expertise during gameplay, which are tracked separately from other resources. When players reach certain knowledge thresholds in specific domains, new actions or strategies become available. This differs from tech trees in that knowledge accumulation happens gradually through many small actions rather than through discrete purchases or advancements.

Momentum Tracks: Actions build momentum when repeated in consecutive turns. Higher momentum provides increasing benefits for continuing the same strategy but creates penalties for switching. Players must decide when to pivot versus when to commit deeper. Example Implementation: An economic game where continued investment in specific industries creates increasing returns but also increasing risk of market collapse, requiring careful timing of strategy shifts.

Move Through Deck: Players Move Through a Deck of cards. Typically the goal is to reach the bottom (One Deck Dungeon), find and defeat a boss (Chainsaw Warrior), or simply know when to quit (Incan Gold).

Tech Trees/Tech Tracks: During the course of the game, new Actions become available to specific players, or existing Actions are improved. These are often themed as Technologies, but do not need to be. Sometimes this is expressed as a Tree, where gaining one Tech unlocks multiple other Techs. Or it can be a track, where advancing along the track unlocks upgraded or new Actions.

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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Automatic Resource Growth: The automatic increase of a resource triggered by a particular, conditional, deterministic (not random) game state.

Example 1. Unacquired resources in Agricola:

• Uncollected wood from the wood-collection action space (condition) will offer +1 wood (result) on the following round (game state).

Example 2. Acquired resources in Agricola:

• Two pigs in your farm, in an area with space enough for 3 pigs (condition) will automatically produce a 3rd pig (result) during the breeding phase of that round (game state).

Counter-example 1. Income in Monopoly:

• Collect $200 (result) when passing “GO” (game state).
• There is no condition (ex: if you own 1 or more properties)

Counter-example 2. Random Production in Catan:

The production is random not deterministic.

Players collect resources at the beginning of each turn based on a die roll.

Deck / Bag / Pool Building: Players play cards out of individual decks, seeking to acquire new cards and to play through their decks iteratively, improving them over time through card acquisition or card elimination.

It may include a “random-draw” to form a hand from the deck for the current round (as in Star Realms) and the deck is automatically reset once the draw pile is exhausted; or it may allow access to all available cards at once (as in Concordia) until the discards are retrieved. The latter may embody the Action Retrieval mechanic, where the card use activate actions.

This category also covers Bag Building, Pool Building, and related mechanisms (using chits, dice, etc).

Dominion pioneered this mechanism.

Hand Management: Hand management games are games with cards in them that reward players for playing the cards in certain sequences or groups. The optimal sequence/grouping may vary, depending on board position, cards held and cards played by opponents. Managing your hand means gaining the most value out of available cards under given circumstances. Cards often have multiple uses in the game, further obfuscating an “optimal” sequence.

Income: Players gain resources at defined times.

Increase Value of Unchosen Resources: If players do not select certain Actions or Resources, then they increase in value. Puerto Rico is a classic example of this technique, as unchosen roles have a coin placed on them. This mechanism is a simple way for designers to balance different options. The money may either come from the bank, as in Puerto Rico, or from the players themselves, as is done in Small World, where players must place a coin on factions that are skipped.

Loans: Players may take a Loan from the bank to get more money.

Examples include Monopoly where players can mortgage properties, and Age of Steam, where taking loans is a key strategic consideration.

Multi-Dimensional Resource Constraints: Resources exist in multiple dimensions or aspects simultaneously, and different actions require specific configurations across these dimensions. For example, a resource might have quantity, quality, and accessibility attributes, with different actions requiring different combinations of these attributes.

Resource Conversion Chains: Resources must be converted through a series of sequential transformations to become more valuable or useful. This creates a supply chain management challenge where players must balance efficiency against flexibility. Players may specialize in different parts of the chain, creating interdependencies. Examples include raw materials that must be refined, then manufactured, then distributed to be worth maximum points.

Resource Queue: Resources are in an ordered queue, and can only be pulled from one end, or rarely, both ends, but not the middle.

Resource to Move: Players expend a Resource to Move. This is commonly themed as fuel, but other games use money or other commodities.

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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Alliances: Players have formal relationships that may change over the course of the game. This differs from Negotiation in that these relationships are governed by specific game rules. For example, in Dune, players may form alliances at each Nexus phase, which last until the next Nexus. During that time the players win together, may not attack each other, and grant their ally a special power. In Struggle of Empires players bid for the right to select their ally for that round, which is governed by similar rules.

Cooperative Game: Players coordinate their actions to achieve a common win condition or conditions. Players all win or lose the game together.

Bribery: Players offer bribes to other players to get them to perform specific actions. Typically players will place bribes on certain actions, and if another player selects that choice they get the bribe. Otherwise it is returned to the player. Santiago and Tonga Bonga operate this way. Bribery can also be a part of a Negotiation mechanism, as players may offer bribes which may or may not be binding. Intrigue is an example of the latter.

Collaborative Control: Multiple players jointly control a single game element (like a powerful neutral faction) and must coordinate or negotiate how to use it. This differs from fully cooperative games in that players still have individual goals, but share control over certain powerful elements. The shared element may provide significant advantages, but requires agreement among the controlling players to direct effectively.

Communication Limits: Games may limit players from communicating with one another openly. These restrictions can be absolute as they relate to certain specific pieces of information, or they may restrict certain types of communication, such as speaking.

Neighbor Scope: Actions, resources, or resolution are shared between neighbors.

Negotiation: Players make agreements about coordinating action, beyond simply Trading.

Agreements may be either binding or non-binding. Diplomacy is a notable example of the latter.

Risk Pooling: Players can join forces to mitigate risks by contributing to shared insurance mechanisms or joint ventures. When negative events occur, the pooled resources absorb the impact, but players must negotiate or follow predetermined rules for sharing the benefits when positive outcomes occur. This creates interesting dynamics where rational self-interest must be balanced against collective security.

Role Playing: Some board games incorporate elements of role playing. It can be that players control a character that improves over time. It can also be a game that encourages or inspires Storytelling. This mechanic can be viewed as an extension of Variable Player Powers.

Semi-cooperative Game: A game in which players are cooperating and competing with each other throughout the game, while trying to complete a common objective. There have been several ways to implement this. One classification is Grand Winner format. A Grand Winner game has two possible outcomes: A) One or more players win ) No players win. A game where players sometimes cooperate and sometimes compete but one always wins is not semi-cooperative. It is a Competitive game with a Negotiation mechanism. Other formats of semi-cooperative games proceed similar to cooperative games but winning and losing objectives are triggered individually such that the outcome may be that no players win, all players win or some players win and some lose. The individual win/loss games have shown to be far less controversial than the Grand Winner format.

Social Capital System: Beyond just resources, players build reputation and influence with different factions in the game. This social capital functions differently than regular resources – it’s gained through consistent behavior patterns and can collapse rapidly if players act against established expectations. Example Implementation: A political game where maintaining consistent ideological positions builds trust with certain factions, providing increasing benefits, but flip-flopping causes rapid reputation collapse.

Take That: Competitive maneuvers that directly target one opponent’s progress toward victory, but do not directly eliminate any characters or components representing the opponent. Such mechanics include stealing, nullifying, or force-discarding of one opponent’s resources, actions, or abilities. A take-that maneuver often results in a dramatic change in the players’ position of power over a relatively short period of time.

It is unclear whether this includes 2 player games (as every action inhibits your one opponent’s victory).

Team-based Game: In team-based games, teams of players compete with one another to obtain victory. There are a variety of possible team structures, including symmetrical teams like 2v2 and 3v3, multiple sides like 2v2v2, and even One vs. All.

Trading: Players may Trade assets directly with each other, rather than via a Market.

Traitor Game: A traitor game can be seen as a kind of team game, or as a cooperative game with a betrayal mechanism. The traitors typically win by triggering a failure condition for the players. For this mechanism, a traitor game is characterized by traitors that begin the game with hidden identities, or are assigned them during the game.

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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Catch the Leader: The game systems advantage players that are behind or disadvantage players that are ahead.

Hot Potato: A single item is bad for players to have, and players strive to pass it to other players or avoid it so they are not holding it at game end or some other defined time. Example games include Old Maid, Exploding Kittens, and Catch Phrase!.

Lose a Turn: This is a meta-mechanism that can be applied to a variety of turn structures. A player who “Loses a Turn” must skip their next opportunity for a turn, and will go to the next round, or the next time their turn arises.

Once-Per-Game Abilities: Players have a special ability that they can use one time per game. These may be unique to them, like ‘feats’ in Warmachine, or common to all players, like the special power chits in Finca. Often players will receive bonus Victory Points if they do not use their one-time abilities during the game.

Player Elimination: A player can be removed from the game, no longer participating.

In some such games, all of an eliminated player’s material is removed from the game as well; in other such games this material may remain in play as neutral material. (E.g. an eliminated player’s armies and cities on a map might disappear, or might be become neutral armies and cities.)

In most games, an eliminated player cannot win, but this is not necessarily true. (E.g. in some games with victory based on scores, an eliminated player’s score is still eligible for victory.)

In most games with player elimination, a player is eliminated involuntarily. But in some games a player can choose to drop out (with hope that their score suffices to win (e.g. Wooly Wars).

In some games, player elimination is possible, but rare in practice and does not happen in a “typical session” (e.g. Age of Steam).

In some games, player elimination is common. In the extreme case, all players but one (the sole surviver = eventual winner) are eliminated during a session (e.g. Titan). In many player elimination games, typically some players are eliminated but multiple other players are not (e.g. Werewolf and BANG!).

Player elimination does not include two-player-only games where the goal is to defeat the opponent, e.g., Chess.

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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Crayon Rail System: The Crayon Rail System is a subcategory of Route/Network Building. Types of these games use crayon or other non-permanent methods of making connecting lines on a board, often eraseable. The most popular Crayon Rail games are part of the Empire Builder system.

Layering: Components are placed above other components, partially covering the ones below, or overlapping in various ways. Only the topmost visible icons/areas are active.

Examples include Patchistory and Smartphone Inc. using cards, and Taluva using tiles.

Modular Board: Play occurs upon a modular board that is composed of multiple pieces, often tiles or cards.

In many games, board placement is randomized, leading to different possibilities for strategy and exploration.

Some games in this category have multiple boards which are not used simultaneously, preserving table space. Unused boards remain out of play until they are required.

Tile Placement: Tile Placement games feature placing a piece to score VPs or trigger actions, often based on adjacent pieces or pieces in the same group/cluster, or keying off non-spatial properties like color, “feature completion”, cluster size etc.

A classic example is Carcassonne, where a player randomly draws a tile, places it next to other tiles (along with a meeple), in order to complete map features.

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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Drawing: Players draw a picture and other players guess what the picture is intended to depict.

Flicking: A Physical Action needs to be performed by one or more players to determine the outcome of the action.

Ordering: The objective of the game is to rearrange a group of game elements from a disordered to an ordered state.

Paper-and-Pencil: The game is developed using paper and pen/pencil to mark and save responses or attributes that, at the end of the game, are used to score points and determine the winner.

A game that merely keeps track of score on a sheet of paper does not use a paper-and-pencil mechanism.

Physical Removal: Pieces are removed from a structure, and play is affected by things that fall (as in Ker Plunk), or a complete collapse of the structure (as in Jenga).

Speed Matching: A pattern is revealed, typically through a card flip, and players try to be the first to find a match with other game elements on the table, or see if a match exists.

Stacking and balancing: Players must physically stack and balance pieces. Junk Art and Bandu are examples.

Storytelling: In storytelling games, players are provided with conceptual, written, or pictorial stimuli which must be incorporated into a story of the players’ creation. Once Upon a Time uses a selection of words while Rory’s Story Cubes include ambiguous symbols. Some games like Snake Oil and Big Idea prompt players to pitch a product, which frequently takes the form of a brief story or vignette.

Other storytelling games include titles such as Tales of the Arabian Nights and Above and Below, game designs in which players don’t create their own stories, but instead experience a story from the inside as one of the participants. Games along those lines might present players with a particular narrative situation, after which the player will make a choice that affects which end to the narrative is told — with the results of this narrative affecting the player’s standing in the game.

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.