Scars of War - Theme Supporting Mechanics

The always informative Scars of War Blog has an interesting read on Theme Supporting Mechanics. Here's a little:

In the previous post on Fallout 3 I mentioned how I liked the repair and radiation mechanics, how I found that those mechanics did a lot to convey that Post Apocalyptic, scavenging-in-the-rubble feeling for me.

I’ve been thinking about that aspect recently, about designing game mechanics which serve to directly support the theme you are trying to convey to the player. I think it does a lot to add flavor to your gameplay, to create a memorable experience in the player’s mind. These mechanics tend to stand out in the player’s memory.

I’ve been sifting through my own memory for a list of all the games that had this kind of mechanic in them. Now, a theme-supporting gameplay mechanic is different from a quest, encounter or special ability. A theme-supporting mechanic is something which conveys some fundamental aspect of the setting via a system which the player “plays".

Check it out.