ABSTRACT
Game mechanics are the core of what a game truly is. They are the interactions and relationships that remain when all of the aesthetics, technology, and story are stripped away. Every game takes place in some kind of space. This space is the “magic circle” of gameplay. It defines the various places that can exist in a game and how those places are related to one another. As a game mechanic, space is a mathematical construct. Many game spaces are more complex than the examples have looked. Often, they feature “spaces within spaces.” Computer-based fantasy role-playing games are a good example of this. Most of them feature an “outdoor space” that is continuous and 2D. A player traveling this space sometimes encounters little icons representing towns, or caves, or castles. Just as space in games can be discrete or continuous, so can time.
