Game Themes are the settings, backgrounds or scenarios that the game has been imagined in by the designer. The game’s theme tends to shine through the artistic rendition and material components produced for the game.

• Adventure/Story Based: such games may emphasise heroic themes or are based on storylines rooted in exploration and discovery, often involving fantastical elements. Furthermore, some of these games may be based on well-known novels or particular narratives.
• Animals: such games make use of animals as a main concept or theme in gameplay. Players may either manage or control animals throughout the game or they may assume the role of animals themselves.
• Aviation/Flight: such games involve the theme of aviation or flight in gameplay; be they modern aircraft, such are airplanes, helicopters, blimps or even futuristic flying machines on other planets, or in outer space.
• Building/Construction: such games compel players to use resources to build and manage small or large-scale projects and/or structures. These games may concentrate on the construction of a single building, a whole city, or even several settlements and/or towns across the game board.
• Contemporary Times: such games are set in today’s modern era. Unlike most games that have themes rooted in historical or futuristic settings, contemporary games are featured in ‘the now’.
• Civilisation Building: such games emphasise the production, development and advancement of a particular society that each player controls over a period of time. Controlling your society’s citizens and resources, along with managing its politics, economy and military, are the key strategies that allow your civilisation to gain superiority over others.
• Economic: such games emphasise an economic theme and tend to involve production, consumption, trade and negotiation amongst the players. Some of these games are played in a market and/or consumer type setting.
• Family: besides being enjoyed by adults, these games are also appropriate for family settings and can be enjoyed with younger children (ages 6+). Family games provide the perfect opportunity to spend quality time with your children around the living room table.
• Fantasy: such games are rooted in fictional worlds which emphasise the use of magic, the existence of mythical creatures or monsters, and typically feature themes drawn from historical based settings.
• Fighting: such games emphasise one-on-one battles between players or other small-scale conflicts within the game. These smaller combat based scenarios differ from war games where fighting is depicted on a much larger scale across the game board.
• Historical: such games are depicted in a historical scenario where players get immersed into the game’s historical theme during play. Typically, such games follow storylines from well known past eras of human civilisation where players interact with one another within that world.
• Horror: such games tend to depict dark or morbid themes and imagery set in the distinct horror genre. Commonly, players play characters that are challenged by supernatural forces as they fight for survival.
• Humorous: such games tend to have less serious undertones, are funny, and promote laughter amongst the players. The game may involve elements of acting, clowning around, or jokes and satire.
• Nature/Environmental: such games have a theme relating to the seasons, farming, environmental conservation, animals, insects or anything that has to do with nature itself.
• Nautical: a game that heavily uses bodies or water, sailing, or ships at sea in its theme.
• Party: these games are appropriate for larger groups and social gatherings of 4 or more people. They tend to have an easy learning curve with a short playing time. Party games liven up the atmosphere, are very addictive and can get loud!
• Political: such games emphasise each player’s political authority and are heavy on political intrigue. They encourage the player to manipulate societal events or activities through diplomacy or treachery, while managing their political policy and influencing other players’ choices.
• Racing: such games typically involve players or their pieces in a race striving to reach an end point or a finish line first. These games have nothing to do with players ‘racing’ to get the most points to win a game. Instead an actual racing theme based on speed is depicted here.
• Science Fiction: such games are drawn from imagined futuristic themes which may be set on other worlds or planets, in outer space, or even in different dimensions. Many of these games tend to involve starships, space exploration and fictitious alien races.
• Trains: such games often involve imagery or game pieces that are directly related to trains or railway vehicles.
• Trivia/Educational: such games may test each player’s knowledge in either history, facts and figures, general knowledge, or pop culture. The game may concentrate on teaching a specific subject/concept, or may emphasise on much broader themes.
• Warfare: such games emphasise all out warfare between factions or armies during gameplay, which players either directly represent or control. Typically these games depict military actions and strategies involving area control on a much larger scale instead of direct one-on-one fighting.
• Word Game: in such games players compete with one another using their skills in spelling, familiarity with definitions, or knowledge of a specific language.

Game Mechanics are the different systems that designers use as ‘engines’ to make their games run. Most games make use of only one or two primary mechanics while possibly featuring a few more mechanics as secondary.

• 1 vs. All: such games are designed to have one player challenge the rest of his/her friends with the intention of defeating them. The game may start with this setup or this ‘1 vs. All’ circumstance may be triggered at some point during the course of the game’s storyline while it is being played.
• Abstract Artistry: a game where a picture may very well tell a thousand words. The artistic imagination of the players is one of the main driving forces behind this mechanic. This imagination may be channeled into creating descriptions for pictures or words in the game.
• Abstract Strategy: a game which follows simple and straightforward rules and mechanics for its game components, coupled with an easy point counting system. There is almost no element of luck during gameplay. The game’s theme is usually nothing more than a visual or artistic add-on.
• Acting: a game that requires players to communicate through either acting, miming, humming or mimicking others. Such games tend to be humorous.
• Action & Movement: a game where the player’s game pieces or miniatures take actions or are moved around according to specified rules of gameplay. This mechanic of actions and movement is at the heart of the game’s system.
• Alliances & Negotiation: a game that requires each player to constantly make deals and agreements, or to form alliances with others, for the eventual growth and benefit of their own position and power. Such games can get highly competitive, where backstabbing may be is commonplace.
• Area Control: a game that encourages players to conquer and establish control over set depicted and divided areas or territories on the game board. Typically the player’s power grows as they expand and conquer territorially.
• Area Enclosure: a game where players place their pieces in a way to surround as much of the game board as possible. In so doing, they create areas that are now under their direct control. Many such games are played on gridded boards or maps. Area Enclosure differs from Area Control.
• Auction/Bidding: a game that requires the players to bid on items or goods in an auction-type setting, attempting to purchase them, in order to strengthen their position or gain wealth in the game.
• Betting/Wagering: a game that requires the players to form an educated bet on certain possibilities or outcomes within the game. If the bet is won, they score points or gain power accordingly.
• Bluffing: a game that requires the use of trickery and deception for the player to win. Such games usually feature some information that is hidden from certain players, and in order to win, this information must somehow be resolved.
• Card Drafting: a game in which players take turns in choosing cards from either a common pool in front of them, or from one another’s hands. They do so in the hopes of taking immediate advantages, or building up on future strategies. This differs from the traditional card-drawing mechanic found in most card games, where the player blindly draws cards from a deck having no choice in what they receive.
• Changeable Board: instead of a set, never-changing game board as with most traditional games, changeable board games contain a playing area that is composed of numerous parts that are often randomised every time the game is played. Most commonly, these parts are tiles that can be randomly placed in any order to create the ‘board’, or can be cards or smaller board game segments instead. Such games have a high replay-ability value, due to the randomness of the board, leading to different strategies and possibilities every time the game is played.
• Cooperative Game: these games allow players to play as a group against the game itself. As the game’s turns progress, it continuously challenges the players, trying to defeat them. To win, consistent teamwork is essential.
• Deck Building: a game where players either start with a pre-chosen set of cards forming their personal deck, or build their personal deck up using some form of in-game currency system as the game unfolds. Simply put, each player designs their playing decks with their preferred cards. Typically, each card in the game provides the player with unique capabilities or powers.
• Deduction: a game that requires players to form conclusions based on observation, reasoning and information, which are provided as the game plays out.
• Dexterity: a game requiring quick physical reflexes and/or hand-to-eye co-ordination to score points.
• Dice Rolling: a game that uses dice as a principle component in determining players’ outcomes.  Naturally, this brings a strong element of luck during gameplay.
• Hand Management: a game where cards that are played in particular sequences or a specific order will reward or benefit a player’s position. The optimal use of the cards in the player’s hand will vary with many factors including cards played by their opponents, others cards held in one’s hand, or certain cards already in play. Players will aim to manage their hands in order to get the most favourable outcome from every card played.
• Pattern Awareness: a game where playing a sequence of specific patterns will give the player a desired outcome or victory points. Such games use pattern placement and recognition heavily during gameplay. Players who best see these patterns and take advantage of them are greatly rewarded.
• Pickup & Deliver: a game that requires players to take goods from one location on the game board and deliver them to another to obtain victory points or in-game currency.
• Push Your Luck: a game where you repeat an action over and over again at a risk, to gain an advantage over other players or to score victory points. This eventually stops when you feel that the risk of taking this action once more may be greater than the reward you have already achieved. At its core, this mechanic is all about risk management and stopping at the right time when you feel your luck is about to run out.
• Real-Time Play: a game that has its playtime limited to a measured amount of minutes dictated by the game or a game where a timer is used during gameplay. Once your allocated time is up, play stops and the game ends.
• Resource Acquisition: a game where particular resources are considered as the main currency and acquiring more of these resources allows players to build, expand and grow in power.
• Route Building: a game that focuses on players building a network or route of interconnected lines between locations to gain victory points. Usually, emphasis is placed on the longest route or specific chains of connections.
• Set Collection: a very simple game mechanic where players are required to collect sets of cards or items based on types, colours, numbers or shapes in order to gain victory points or acquire power.
• Simultaneous Action Selection: a game where each player secretly chooses their actions for each round and then plays out their turn according to those revealed choices.
• Storytelling: a game that provides players with basic concepts, words, icons, or images, which are then used to tell a part of a story.
• Teamwork: a game that is played in teams consisting of 2 or more players per team. Each team challenges the other for the victory while abiding by the game’s rules and regulations for team play. Such games usually require at least 4 players to play.
• Tile Placement: a game featuring the placing of tiles in certain locations based on specified rules in order to gain victory points. The game may feature these tiles as resources or construction pieces for components of a single building to parts of a whole city.
• Time Track: a game with a variable player-turn order mechanic where the player at the end of the time/scoring track goes first in the next game round, before all the other players who are ahead on that same scoring track. This can allow the player who is falling behind to have multiple sequential turns in a row, eventually catching up to the players in front.
• Trading: a game that allows players to constantly trade or exchange specified goods with one another, resources for example.
• Variable Powers: a mechanic that grants each player different in-game abilities and powers depending on the character, tribe or group they have chosen to play. This can also grant each player a different path to victory.
• Variable Phase Order: a game where the players decide how each turn is played, meaning that each turn does not necessarily consist of the same phases or actions as the turn before. In such games every turn is different, where some phases or actions may be skipped or played in a different sequence. This unique mechanic allows players to prioritise the phases they wish to play in each turn as the game unfolds.
• Voting: a game where at certain points in time, the players cast votes to determine the results of certain situations, or how the game will progress.
• Worker Placement: a game that allows players to place their ‘workers’ at certain locations on the game board to acquire benefits such as resolving actions or gaining resources. Commonly, players use their own workers to block other players’ workers from certain locations, by placing them first and gaining the benefits provided.