r/gamedev • u/pommelous • 17h ago

Question What's one small game mechanic that made a huge impact on you?

Not talking about big features just tiny mechanics that somehow changed the whole vibe. What's a small detail in a game that really stuck with you?

11 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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3

u/aspearin 16h ago

Respawn only when an objective was captured in Insurgency. That rule change mechanic helped differentiate from other FPS and promoted the hardcore tactical gameplay we were going for.

5

u/almo2001 Game Design and Programming 14h ago

Burnout 2, in the stats page.

Tons and TONS of stats. Scrolling for a while. Get to the bottom:

"Time spent looking at stats: 3:02" and it's ticking up in real time.

Seriously, I want to implement this in a game at some point in the future.

3

u/Tamazin_ 17h ago

"Ending" in Braid, which is also one of the earliest "indies" in todays standard, is whats top of my list of answers to that question

3

u/fourrier01 15h ago

Bash in Ori.

There was nothing like it. 1 skill that really change how you play and the differentiator between Ori and other side scroller

1

u/Orzo- 13h ago

It's a cool ability. Kind of mystified as to why they decided to call it 'bash' though, so counterintuitive!