When exploring game mechanics, it’s important to consider the element of technology. I’ve mentioned in the past that technology is not explicitly listed as a formal element as defined by Tracy Fullerton, author of the Game Design Workshop. Jesse Schell, on the other hand, highlights its importance of technology in his Elemental Tetrad framework, though positioning it outside of game mechanics.
Personally, I feel that technology is an integral component of game mechanics because the medium of play, whether analog, digital, or immersive, shapes how all other mechanics function.
Defining Technology
Technology is not limited to “high-tech” devices. It includes any materials or interactions that make your game possible, from paper and pencil, peg people and dice, to a game pad or VR headset. The technology chosen for a game enables certain actions while prohibiting others, effectively shaping what is possible in the game.
Accessibility and Technology
Technology directly impacts who can play a game and how easily they can engage. Hardware, input devices, software interfaces, and production decisions all influence accessibility. For example:
- A game designed exclusively for a VR headset excludes players without that hardware.
- Small-screen devices or complex controllers may limit play for certain age groups or players with motor impairments.
- Software features such as customizable controls, colorblind modes, subtitles, and difficulty options broaden accessibility, allowing a wider audience to enjoy the game.
The technology chosen for a game shapes how game mechanics interact with each other, influencing resources, conflict, rules, procedures, boundaries, and outcomes, and ultimately affects the player’s experience. For example, digital systems can automatically track resources, balance player stats, and manage complex interactions, making gameplay more intricate yet less cumbersome than an equivalent analog game. Technology can also expand or reshape a game’s boundaries; while a board game is physically constrained, digital and immersive platforms can create the perception of vast or even infinite spaces, such as in open-world games, while still enforcing underlying rules that structure play.
By considering accessibility early in the design process, technology becomes not only a tool for innovation but also a bridge to include more players. It highlights that technology doesn’t just shape how a game is played, it shapes who can play and how they experience it.
Constraints as Catalysts for Creativity
The technology available for a game sets the boundaries within which designers must work, often shaping the mechanics, interactions, and overall player experience. Constraints are not merely obstacles; they are sources of innovation, prompting creative solutions that can define new genres and experiences.
One good example is the emergence of first-person shooters. In early games like Wolfenstein 3D (1992), only the player’s weapon was visible on screen, with no full-body rendering. This design was influenced in part by technology limitations, as early PCs lacked the processing power to animate a fully visible character in real time. By omitting a visible avatar, designers could focus on immersive environments, dynamic enemy scripting, and smooth gameplay, turning a technological constraint into a defining feature of the genre.
These constraints also affect physical games. For example, games with many resources, complex player stats, or intricate interactions can become cumbersome if managed entirely manually. Designers use components like tokens, cards, or boards to track information efficiently or simplify rules to keep the play engaging. These physical limitations encourage innovative ways to represent information, create tension, and structure strategic choices, just as digital constraints inspire new mechanics.
By working within the limits imposed by technology, whether hardware, software, or physical components, designers can leverage constraints to drive creativity, expand gameplay, enhance player engagement, and redefine what a game can be.
Technology Versus Art
Hopefully, these examples have illustrated how technology directly interacts with other elements of game mechanics and why I consider it an essential element in its own right. However, a common misconception remains that technology dictates a game’s artistic style.
While technology can shape certain aspects, like enabling fully animated characters and dynamic worlds in a video game, or requiring static components in a board game, it should not dictate the art style itself. A VR game, for example, does not have to feature hyper-realistic 3D models; a pixelated or stylized world could be just as compelling. Similarly, most board games use static art, but the look and feel of that art is driven by the game’s atmosphere and theme, not solely by technological limitations.
The main aspect of art that technology influences is scale, how much of the world the player can see or interact with. Beyond that, the art should reflect the desired tone, mood, and narrative of the game rather than being determined exclusively by the medium.
Foundational vs. Decorational Technology
The misconception of technology’s impact on art may stem from the text The Art of Game Design, in which author Jesse Schell categorizes technology into foundational and decorative types:
- Foundational technologies enable entirely new kinds of gameplay experiences, creating mechanics that would otherwise be impossible.
- Decorational technologies enhance existing experiences, improving visuals, sound, or interactions without fundamentally changing the gameplay.
However, these categories primarily view technology as tools for developing games, not as an element of game mechanics themselves.
When we consider technology as part of game mechanics, we think more broadly; it encompasses any materials or interactions that make the game playable, rather than the tools used to produce it. For example, choosing a game engine is about development, but the engine itself is not the mechanic. Similarly, using Excel to balance player stats or digital art software to create assets supports the game, but doesn’t define the interactions the player experiences. From a mechanics standpoint, technology is about how the medium enables or constrains gameplay, not about the production tools used to make it.
Wrap-Up
Technology plays a critical role in shaping game mechanics, influencing how players interact with resources, conflict, rules, procedures, boundaries, and outcomes. It both enables and limits design, providing opportunities for creativity while imposing constraints that can inspire innovation. Hardware, software, and physical components determine what is possible, from managing complex systems to expanding the perceived boundaries of a game world. Technology also directly impacts accessibility, shaping who can play and how easily they can engage with the game.
While production tools like game engines, spreadsheets, or art software are essential for building a game, they are not the mechanics themselves. By focusing on technology as a mechanic enabler, the medium through which interactions occur, we can better understand how it shapes gameplay rather than just production. Considering technology alongside other formal elements helps designers make intentional choices that balance complexity, engagement, and player experience. Ultimately, technology is not just a tool for making games; it is an integral component that defines what a game can do and how it can be experienced.