Glossary & Index

An alphabetical reference to the mechanisms in this guide and the other names they go by. A bold entry links to the article that covers it (the print edition adds its article number); an italic entry redirects an alias to its canonical term.

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The 1:1: see One-on-One Scene Design

A

A Taxonomy of Genre Conventions: Map of genres by reader contract and key IF adaptation.

A Taxonomy of Puzzles: Map of puzzle types: cognitive faculty × experiential job.

A11y in Games: see Accessibility in Live & Interactive Games

Accessibility in Live & Interactive Games: The social model; sensory/mobility/cognitive/linguistic access; hints as access.

Accessible Group Design: see Mixed-Ability Groups & Universal Design

Accusation Dynamics: see Trust, Conformity & Social Pressure

Action Economy: see Turn Structure & Action Economy

Affection Systems: see Romance & Relationships

Age Banding: see Audience & Age-Targeting

Aha Moment: The core cognitive reward of puzzle solving.

Alternate Reality Game (ARG): see The Puzzle Hunt & ARG Tradition

Analysis Paralysis: see Turn Structure & Action Economy

Answers as Data: see Extraction, Indexing & Meta-Puzzles

ARG Lineage: see The Puzzle Hunt & ARG Tradition

Armchair Treasure Hunt: see Treasure & Scavenger Hunts

Artefact Design & Document Production: Designing and producing narrative objects (feelies, aged documents, dossiers).

Artefact Modality: see Physical vs Digital Puzzle Artefacts

Asymmetric Win Conditions: see Faction Design & Asymmetric Objectives

Atmosphere: see Theme, Immersion & Sensory Environment

Audience & Age-Targeting: Cross-genre age calibration (distinct from the Children’s/YA genre craft).

Automa: see Solo Modes

B

Back-solving: see Backsolving

Backsolving: Deriving a feeder answer from the meta rather than from the feeder itself.

Baked-In Safety: see Safety Systems as Mechanical Layer

Beat Sheets: see Beat Taxonomies & Craft Models

Beat Taxonomies & Craft Models: Save the Cat / Story Grid / Story Circle; mandatory vs branch-variable beats.

Bleed, Aftercare & Debriefing: Bleed (Emily Care Boss); de-roling, debrief types, bookend rituals.

Board Game Mechanisms: see Boardgame Mechanism Vocabulary

Boardgame Mechanism Vocabulary: Map of boardgame mechanism families. Tabletop-only reference (Gate-C1).

Bot Deck: see Solo Modes

Bottleneck Mitigation: see Hint Systems & Recovery

Bottleneck Players: see Team Sizes & the Bottleneck Problem

Braided Narrative: see Parallel Threads & Convergence

Branch Budgeting: see Scope, Scale & Branching Depth

Branch Voice Auditing: see Voice & Register Consistency

Branching Design: see Branching Narrative Craft

Branching Narrative Craft: Choice architecture; meaningful vs illusory choice; convergence and state-tracking.

Branching Topologies: see IF Graph Structures: A Taxonomy

Buy vs Make: see Fabrication & Sourcing

C

Calibration Tools: see Safety Contract

Calibration Workshop: see Pre-Game Workshop Design

Campaign Arc Shapes: Episodic/arc-driven/sandbox/faction-driven/braid campaign shapes.

Campaign Boardgames: see Cooperative & Legacy Genres

Campaign Models: see Campaign Arc Shapes

Campaign Structure: see Campaign Arc Shapes

Canon Management: Fact-continuity; cause chains; who-knows-what-when across branches.

The Caper: see Heist & Caper Patterns

Challenge Design: see Encounter & Challenge Design

Character Archetypes: see Tropes, Archetypes & Variations

Character Voice: The hub: idiolect, deep POV, voice under player pressure.

Children’s & YA Conventions: The MG/YA split; the Absent Adult; anti-didacticism.

Choice Architecture: see Branching Narrative Craft

Choice-Based Structures: see IF Graph Structures: A Taxonomy

Ciphers & Codes: Selecting and fairly deploying ciphers.

Class-as-Identity: see Playbook Design

The Click: see Aha Moment

Closure: see Endings & Structural Closure

Clue Chain: see Clue Sequencing & Chains

Clue Construction: see Cluing & Fairness

Clue Ordering: see Clue Sequencing & Chains

Clue Packaging: see Physical Clue Formats

Clue Sequencing & Chains: The order clues arrive and how one unlocks the next.

Cluing & Fairness: The fairness contract: every clue sound, the answer reachable.

Co-op Games: see Cooperative & Legacy Genres

Co-op vs Competitive: see Cooperative vs Adversarial Formats

Conflict Patterns: The conflict types; desire-vs-obstacle; the stakes ladder.

Conflict Types: see Conflict Patterns

Consent Mechanics: see Safety Contract

Consequence Chains: see Moral Dilemmas & Consequence Chains

Consumable vs Reusable Clues: see Physical Clue Formats

Continuity Management: see Canon Management

Control Booth: see Cue Management & GM Station

Convention Establishment: see Teaching Through Play

Conversation Design: see Dialogue Craft

Cooperative & Legacy Genres: The cooperative genre (quarterbacking) and the legacy genre (permanence).

Cooperative vs Adversarial Formats: The five-format spectrum; quarterbacking and traitor failure modes.

Countdown: see Progress Clock

Crime Fiction: see Mystery & Detective Fiction

Cryptography Puzzles: see Ciphers & Codes

Cue Management & GM Station: Audio/lighting automation and the human operator’s control surface and hint discipline.

Cue Stack: see Cue Management & GM Station

D

De-roling: see Bleed, Aftercare & Debriefing

Decipherment: see Ciphers & Codes

Decision Space: see Decision Space & Choice Design

Decision Space & Choice Design: Meier’s interesting decisions; dominant strategies; metagame health. (Choice-architecture in story is Branching Narrative Craft, Family 1.)

Deck-Building Games: see Deckbuilders

Deckbuilders: The Dominion lineage; the deck as a sculpted strategic object. Tabletop-only reference (Gate-C1).

Deckbuilding Genre: see Deckbuilders

Dependency Graph: see Information Architecture

Designed Peer Pressure: see Trust, Conformity & Social Pressure

Designer Presence: see Designer-Community Trust in Long-Form Hunts

Designer-Community Trust in Long-Form Hunts: The verifiability compact and reputation-as-enforcement in long-running hunts.

Designing for Observers: see Spectator-Friendly Design

Dialogue Craft: Subtext, beats, said-bookisms; IF dialogue architectures.

Dialogue Writing: see Dialogue Craft

Dice Mechanics: see Mechanical Resolution Types

Diegesis: see Diegetic Design

Diegetic Design: The IF/narrative home of diegesis; show-the-world-hide-the-gears. (Live/physical sibling: Theme/Immersion, Family 5; boardgame sibling: Theme-Mechanism Integration, Family 6.)

Diegetic Devices: see Digital Props

Diegetic Gating: see Diegetic Design

Diegetic UI: see Diegetic Design

Difficulty Curve: see Session Pacing & Energy Management

Digital Gating & State: Digital infrastructure for hunts/ARGs/hybrid rooms; the digital mechanism-as-judge.

Digital Props: Embedded screens/microcontrollers; companion apps; diegetic interfaces / fake OS in IF.

Distinct Voices: see Character Voice

Distributing Narrative Authority: The mechanisms that hand narrative authority around a table.

Document Forgery: see Artefact Design & Document Production

Dominant Strategy: see Decision Space & Choice Design

Don’t Prep Plots: see Prep Economy

Dramatic Conflict: see Conflict Patterns

Dread Design: see Horror Conventions

Drip-Feed: see Exposition & Subtext

Drop-In Drop-Out Play: see West Marches & the Open-Table Format

Dungeon & Spatial Topology: The designed space; Jaquaying/Xandering; loops, connections, faction ecology.

Dungeon Design: see Dungeon & Spatial Topology

E

Earned Emotion: see Emotional Beats & Investment

Elegance: see Elegance, Emergence & Randomness

Elegance, Emergence & Randomness: Minimal rules / maximal behaviour; randomness types and mitigation.

Embedded Electronics: see Digital Props

Emergence: see Elegance, Emergence & Randomness

Emotional Aftercare: see Bleed, Aftercare & Debriefing

Emotional Beats & Investment: Earning feeling; investment before stakes; the interactive multiplier.

Encounter & Challenge Design: The encounter as a unit of challenge; budget maths; skill challenges.

Encryption Puzzles: see Ciphers & Codes

Endings: see Endings & Structural Closure

Endings & Structural Closure: Multiple endings, earned closure, the live-game finale.

Energy Curve: see Session Pacing & Energy Management

Ensemble Convergence: see Parallel Threads & Convergence

Environmental Narrative: see Environmental Storytelling & Setting as Character

Environmental Storytelling & Setting as Character: Story through the world; setting as an active force.

Epiphany: see Aha Moment

Episodic & Serialised Structure: Episodic vs serialised; state persistence across instalments; release cadence.

Episodic Design: see Episodic & Serialised Structure

Epistemic Tier: Analytical label for role/venue-differentiated knowledge in large live games (settled here as the canonical term; corpus flagged it as a label, not settled community usage).

Escape Room Flow: see Escape Room Topologies

Escape Room Topologies: Linear/open/multi-linear/hub-and-spoke rooms; why IF branching rarely survives a physical room.

Eureka: see Aha Moment

Euro vs Ameritrash: The Two Design Poles: The two boardgame design poles and the hybrid era. Tabletop-only reference (Gate-C1).

The Euro-Ameritrash Axis: see Euro vs Ameritrash: The Two Design Poles

Exposition & Subtext: Delivering information without a lecture; the unsaid.

Extraction, Indexing & Meta-Puzzles: Answers-as-data; the meta and its extraction mechanics.

F

Fabrication & Sourcing: The buy/make/commission decision; workshop tiers; 3D printing; print-on-demand.

Facilitation Models: see GM Role Models & Stances

Facilitator Roles: see Host Roles & the Host-Cannot-Play Problem

Faction Clocks: see Progress Clocks & Faction State

Faction Design & Asymmetric Objectives: Factions as teams-within-the-game; asymmetric objective frameworks.

Faction Structure: see Faction Design & Asymmetric Objectives

Failing Forward: see Try-Fail Cycles & Escalation

Fair Play: see Cluing & Fairness

Fair-Play Mystery: see Mystery & Detective Fiction

False Bottoms: see Hidden Compartments & Reveal Mechanisms

Fantasy Conventions: Magic-system design; trope use/subversion; prophecy.

Fear Mechanics: see Horror Conventions

Feeder: see Feeder Answer

Feeder Answer: A component-puzzle answer that feeds a meta.

Fiat vs Ruling: see Rulings vs Rules & the Authority Contract

Fiction-First Resolution: see Moves & the Fiction-Mechanic-Fiction Loop

Finale Design: see Endings & Structural Closure

Format Spectrum: see Cooperative vs Adversarial Formats

Fragment Assembly: see Nonlinear Narrative Structures

Fronts: see Progress Clocks & Faction State

G

Genre Contracts: see A Taxonomy of Genre Conventions

Genre Conventions: see A Taxonomy of Genre Conventions

The Genuine Dilemma: see Moral Dilemmas & Consequence Chains

German-Style vs American-Style: see Euro vs Ameritrash: The Two Design Poles

The GM as Social Role: see GM Role Models & Stances

GM Emulator: see Oracle & Solo-Play Resolution

GM Role Models & Stances: The GM as a social role; the six stances and the authority gradient.

GM Stances: see GM Role Models & Stances

GMless Authority: see Distributing Narrative Authority

Group Contract: see The Session Zero Playbook

Group Size: see Team Sizes & the Bottleneck Problem

H

Handout Production: see Artefact Design & Document Production

Hard Choices: see Moral Dilemmas & Consequence Chains

The Heist: see Heist & Caper Patterns

Heist & Caper Patterns: The competence engine; crew roles; the plan and the reveal.

Hexcrawl & Pointcrawl: The hexcrawl as a complete exploration structure; the pointcrawl alternative.

Hidden Compartments & Reveal Mechanisms: UV / heat / magnetic / layered-paper reveals; the reveal-as-state-change beat.

Hidden Information: see Information Asymmetry: Hidden Information vs Hidden Roles

Hidden Roles: see Information Asymmetry: Hidden Information vs Hidden Roles

Hidden-Role Games: see Social Performance Genres

Hint Delivery: see Hint Systems & Recovery

Hint Systems & Recovery: Getting stuck and getting unstuck; pull/push/escalation.

Hinting: see Hint Systems & Recovery

Historical Fiction: Research balance; period voice; anachronism control; prejudice without endorsement.

Horror Conventions: Fear mechanics; dread vs shock; sanity/death-state mechanics.

Host Positions: see Host Roles & the Host-Cannot-Play Problem

Host Roles & the Host-Cannot-Play Problem: The three host positions; whoever runs a social game cannot also play it fresh.

Hunt Design: see Puzzle Hunt Craft

Hunt Platforms: see Digital Gating & State

Hunt Trust: see Designer-Community Trust in Long-Form Hunts

I

The Iceberg: see Exposition & Subtext

Idiolect: see Character Voice

IF Graph Structures: A Taxonomy: Map of branching shapes: time cave, gauntlet, branch-and-bottleneck, hub-and-spoke, QBN.

IF Mechanics & Procedural Rhetoric: Mechanics in IF that carry meaning; the system as argument.

Illusionism: see Sandbox, Situation & the Railroad Spectrum

Immersion: see Theme, Immersion & Sensory Environment

Incluing: see Exposition & Subtext

Inclusive Design: see Accessibility in Live & Interactive Games

Information Architecture: Who knows what, when; the clue dependency graph.

Information Asymmetry: Hidden Information vs Hidden Roles: The structural choice of what to hide and from whom.

Information Design: see Information Architecture

Initiative: see Turn Structure & Action Economy

Input vs Output Randomness: see Elegance, Emergence & Randomness

Interesting Decisions: see Decision Space & Choice Design

Internal Logic: see Worldbuilding Patterns

Intimate Scenework: see One-on-One Scene Design

Invisible Ink: see Hidden Compartments & Reveal Mechanisms

J

The Journal as Artefact: The journal as durable output; voice under journaling pressure.

Journaling as Output: see The Journal as Artefact

Journaling Games: see Solo Journaling RPGs: Genre & Form

Journaling Prompts: see Prompt Design in Solo Journaling

K

Kidlit Conventions: see Children’s & YA Conventions

Kinds of Puzzle: see A Taxonomy of Puzzles

Knowledge Distribution: see Information Architecture

Knowledge Tier: see Epistemic Tier

L

Legacy Games: see Cooperative & Legacy Genres

Load-Bearing Theme: see Theme-Mechanism Integration

Lock Selection: see Lock Taxonomy

Lock Taxonomy: Combination/key/directional/word/magnetic/electronic locks; reliability, reset, theme fit.

Locks: see Lock Taxonomy

The Loop: see Time Loop Patterns

Luck Management: see Elegance, Emergence & Randomness

Ludonarrative Dissonance: see IF Mechanics & Procedural Rhetoric

M

Machine-Checked Solutions: see Self-Resolving Puzzles

Magic-System Design: see Fantasy Conventions

Materials, Durability & Reset: Material palette; weatherproofing; the reset hierarchy and pre-run checklist.

Meaningful Choice: see Branching Narrative Craft

Mechanic as Metaphor: see IF Mechanics & Procedural Rhetoric

Mechanic-Revelation Curve: see Teaching Through Play

Mechanical Resolution Types: The resolution method (d20/2d6/pools/FitD/diceless/cards); probability shape and table-feel.

Mechanical Safety: see Safety Systems as Mechanical Layer

Mechanism as Argument: see Theme-Mechanism Integration

Mechanism as Judge: see Self-Resolving Puzzles

Mechanism Families: see Boardgame Mechanism Vocabulary

Megagame Faction Architecture: see Parallel Team Architectures

Meta: see Meta-Puzzle

Meta-Puzzle: A puzzle whose inputs are other puzzles’ answers (see Extraction, Indexing & Meta-Puzzles).

Metapuzzle: see Meta-Puzzle

MG vs YA: see Children’s & YA Conventions

Mixed-Ability Groups & Universal Design: The seven Universal Design principles; one experience across abilities; redundant paths.

Mixed-Engagement Design: see Spectator-Friendly Design

Moral Dilemmas & Consequence Chains: Two-goods/two-bads choice; values not virtue; compounding consequence.

The Move: see PbtA Move

Moves & the Fiction-Mechanic-Fiction Loop: The home of the canonical PbtA Move (see that row); the fiction→trigger→roll→fiction loop.

Multi-Generational Play: see Mixed-Ability Groups & Universal Design

Multi-step Puzzle: see Extraction, Indexing & Meta-Puzzles

Multi-Team Design: see Parallel Team Architectures

Multi-Thread Structure: see Parallel Threads & Convergence

Multiple Endings: see Endings & Structural Closure

Mystery & Detective Fiction: The mystery genre craft; fair-play cluing (story angle; mechanics in Cluing & Fairness).

Mystery Hunt Design: see Puzzle Hunt Craft

N

Naming: see Naming Craft: Characters & Locations

Naming Craft: Characters & Locations: Names as a worldbuilding signal; respectful, non-appropriative.

Narrative Graph Shapes: see IF Graph Structures: A Taxonomy

Narrative Objects: see Artefact Design & Document Production

Narrative Perspective: see Prose Patterns & Point of View

Narrative Trigger: see PbtA Move

Narrator Contract: see Voice & Register Consistency

NFC Tags: see QR & NFC Patterns

Node-Path Travel: see Hexcrawl & Pointcrawl

Non-Chronological Storytelling: see Nonlinear Narrative Structures

Non-Linear Layout: see Dungeon & Spatial Topology

Nonlinear Narrative Structures: Reverse chronology, frame, mosaic assembly; Kishōtenketsu, Jo-ha-kyū.

Nonverbal Tutorial: see Teaching Through Play

Noticing Puzzles: see Search, Observation & Lateral Thinking

The Novum: see Science Fiction Conventions

NPC Craft & Voicing: Designing the supporting cast; the marker pair; LLM-NPC limits.

O

One-on-One Scene Design: The single-player/facilitator scene; consent and the power gap as load-bearing.

Onomastics: see Naming Craft: Characters & Locations

Open Table: see West Marches & the Open-Table Format

Oracle & Solo-Play Resolution: Oracles as GM-substitute for solo/GMless play; the Chaos Factor.

Oracle Systems: see Oracle & Solo-Play Resolution

P

Padlock Taxonomy: see Lock Taxonomy

Parallel Team Architectures: Convergent/competitive/hybrid/faction architectures for many teams at once.

Parallel Threads & Convergence: Parallel storylines; connection/convergence types; converging without flattening.

Party Games: see Social Performance Genres

Pasted-On Theme: see Theme-Mechanism Integration

PbtA Move: A resolution mechanic that bridges fiction and state.

Perceptual Puzzles: see Search, Observation & Lateral Thinking

Period Fiction: see Historical Fiction

Period Voice: see Historical Fiction

Physical Clue Formats: The envelope/booklet/card/container taxonomy and the unsealing beat.

Physical vs Digital Puzzle Artefacts: The five-modality taxonomy; url-rot; durability horizons.

Physical-Digital Spectrum: see Physical vs Digital Puzzle Artefacts

Place as Character: see Environmental Storytelling & Setting as Character

Playbook Design: The playbook as bundled character identity.

Playbooks: see Playbook Design

Player Agency Spectrum: see Sandbox, Situation & the Railroad Spectrum

Player Count: see Team Sizes & the Bottleneck Problem

Player Motivation Frameworks: see Player Types & Casting

Player Taxonomies: see Player Types & Casting

Player Types & Casting: Bartle / Robin’s Laws / Mixing Desk typologies as lenses, not boxes; casting.

Players & Social Dynamics: The social and interpersonal layer.

Post-Play Debrief: see Bleed, Aftercare & Debriefing

POV: see Prose Patterns & Point of View

The Pre-Game Agreement: see The Session Zero Playbook

Pre-Game Workshop Design: Nordic calibration mechanics and relationship workshops before play.

Pre-Larp Workshop: see Pre-Game Workshop Design

Prep Economy: Prepping the reusable; situational over plotted prep; the overprep failure.

Procedural Rhetoric: see IF Mechanics & Procedural Rhetoric

Progress Bar: see Progress Clock

Progress Clock: A visual widget for tracking state changes.

Progress Clocks & Faction State: The home of the canonical Progress Clock (see that row); offscreen change and faction state.

Project Scoping: see Scope, Scale & Branching Depth

The Prompt as Mechanic: see Prompt Design in Solo Journaling

Prompt Design in Solo Journaling: The prompt as the load-bearing unit; generative vs flat; failure modes.

Prop Durability: see Materials, Durability & Reset

Prop Fabrication: see Fabrication & Sourcing

Prop Sourcing: see Fabrication & Sourcing

Props & Feelies: see Artefact Design & Document Production

Prose Patterns & Point of View: Sentence rhythm; the POV taxonomy and tense.

Prose Rhythm: see Prose Patterns & Point of View

Pure Branching: see Time Cave

Puzzle Categories: see A Taxonomy of Puzzles

Puzzle Flow: see Clue Sequencing & Chains

The Puzzle Hunt & ARG Tradition: History and lineage of hunts and ARGs.

Puzzle Hunt Craft: The hunt format: feeders, rounds, metas, test-solving.

Puzzle Hunt History: see The Puzzle Hunt & ARG Tradition

Puzzle Types: see A Taxonomy of Puzzles

Puzzlehunt Construction: see Puzzle Hunt Craft

Puzzles, Clues & Information: The cognitive loop of investigation and discovery.

Q

QR & NFC Patterns: The physical-digital bridge; anti-spoiler gating; tag placement; connectivity fallbacks.

QR Codes: see QR & NFC Patterns

R

Reading Level: see Audience & Age-Targeting

Relation Workshop: see Pre-Game Workshop Design

Relationship Mechanics: see Romance & Relationships

Repetition with Variation: see Time Loop Patterns

Replay Value: see Replayability

Replayability: Variable setup, asymmetry, legacy, metagame depth.

Reset Narrative: see Time Loop Patterns

Resetability: see Materials, Durability & Reset

The Reskin Test: see Theme-Mechanism Integration

Resolution Mechanics: see Mechanical Resolution Types

Reveals: see Hidden Compartments & Reveal Mechanisms

Role Assignment: see Player Types & Casting

Romance & Relationships: Romance arc beats; affection/flag tracking; NPC agency; consent design.

Romance Routes: see Romance & Relationships

Room Structure: see Escape Room Topologies

Rotating Roster Campaign: see West Marches & the Open-Table Format

RPG Design Families: see TTRPG Format Taxonomy

Rule of Three: see Try-Fail Cycles & Escalation

Rule Zero: see Rulings vs Rules & the Authority Contract

Rules-World Coupling: see System vs Setting

Rulings Not Rules: see Rulings vs Rules & the Authority Contract

Rulings vs Rules & the Authority Contract: Rulings-not-rules; Rule Zero and its abuse; authority held by table consent.

Running vs Playing: see Host Roles & the Host-Cannot-Play Problem

S

Safety Contract: The umbrella concept: the social agreement on content and boundaries. The specific tools (X-Card, Lines and Veils, Script Change, Lookdown, OK Check-In, Cut/Brake) are distinct named techniques, not aliases to swap. A safety article must name them precisely (see Safety Tools as Design Layer).

Safety Systems as Mechanical Layer: Safety carried in the rules (Trophy dice, Strings); the systems-side complement to Safety Tools (Family 4).

Safety Tools as Design Layer: The safety toolkit as a design layer (X-Card, Script Change, Lookdown, etc.); see the Safety Contract umbrella term.

Sandbox vs Railroad: see Sandbox, Situation & the Railroad Spectrum

Sandbox, Situation & the Railroad Spectrum: The railroad-to-sandbox spectrum; prep situations not plots; the quantum ogre.

Scan-to-Unlock: see QR & NFC Patterns

Scavenger Hunt: see Treasure & Scavenger Hunts

Scene & Sequel in Interactive Fiction: The scene/sequel micro-rhythm; the sequel as the reflection-and-choice beat.

Scene Breaks: see Scene Structure & Transitions

Scene Craft: see Scene Structure & Transitions

Scene Structure & Transitions: The beat-to-prose pipeline; cuts, transitions, scene breaks.

Scene-Sequel: see Scene & Sequel in Interactive Fiction

Science Fiction Conventions: The hard/soft contract; the novum; diegetic interfaces.

Scope Discipline: see Scope, Scale & Branching Depth

Scope, Scale & Branching Depth: Estimating scale; how branching depth multiplies scope; cutting to finish.

The Score: see Heist & Caper Patterns

Search, Observation & Lateral Thinking: The noticing / perceptual faculty.

Secondary-World Craft: see Fantasy Conventions

Self-Resolving Puzzles: The apparatus confirms the solution itself.

Self-Validating Puzzles: see Self-Resolving Puzzles

Sensory Design: see Theme, Immersion & Sensory Environment

Serial Narrative: see Episodic & Serialised Structure

Server-Side Answer Checking: see Digital Gating & State

Session 0: see The Session Zero Playbook

The Session Arc: see Session Pacing & Energy Management

Session Pacing & Energy Management: The multi-hour arc; energy variation; the mid-session sag and its cures.

Session Rhythm: see Session Pacing & Energy Management

The Session Zero Playbook: The pre-game agreement; expectations/tone/safety/logistics calibration.

Setting Construction: see Worldbuilding Patterns

Setup and Payoff: see Emotional Beats & Investment

SF Conventions: see Science Fiction Conventions

Shared Authorship: see Distributing Narrative Authority

Show Control: see Cue Management & GM Station

Show vs Tell: see Exposition & Subtext

Single-Player Mode: see Solo Modes

Skins: see Playbook Design

Smart Prep: see Prep Economy

Smart Props: see Digital Props

Social Deduction: see Trust, Conformity & Social Pressure

Social Performance Genres: Boardgame genres where the people are the game (genre view; psychology is Family 4).

Solo Audience Scene: see One-on-One Scene Design

Solo Journaling RPGs: Genre & Form: The prompt → response → artefact form; oracle and epistolary lineages.

Solo Modes: Designing a solo opponent for a multiplayer boardgame.

Solvability: see Cluing & Fairness

Space, Props & Materiality: The physical and sensory layer.

Spatial Layout: see Dungeon & Spatial Topology

Spectator-Friendly Design: Designing for observers; drop-in/drop-out; mixed engagement levels.

Splitting and Reconvergence: see Team Splitting Strategies

Spoiler Stratification: see Canon Management

Stakes & Escalation: see Conflict Patterns

Stakes Ladder: see Try-Fail Cycles & Escalation

Story Bible: see Canon Management

Story Structure Frameworks: see Beat Taxonomies & Craft Models

Story, Character & Voice: The narrative and aesthetic layer.

Structure & Pacing: The temporal and macro-rhythmic framework.

Stuck Recovery: see Hint Systems & Recovery

Sub-Team Design: see Team Splitting Strategies

Sudden Insight: see Aha Moment

Supporting Cast: see NPC Craft & Voicing

Swain Structure: see Scene & Sequel in Interactive Fiction

System vs Setting: The coupling between rules and world; the hackability/reskin test.

Systems & Mechanics: The engine and resolution layer.

T

Task Resolution: see Mechanical Resolution Types

Teaching Through Play: Teaching the rules by demonstration, not instruction.

Team Sizes & the Bottleneck Problem: Size thresholds; the one-puzzle-one-bottleneck crowding problem.

Team Splitting Strategies: Splitting a large group into parallel sub-teams (Ringelmann, reconvergence).

The Telltale Model: see Episodic & Serialised Structure

Theme: see Theme, Immersion & Sensory Environment

Theme, Immersion & Sensory Environment: Making a built space feel like a real world and keeping the player there.

Theme-Mechanism Integration: Boardgame theme coupling and procedural rhetoric (the systems sibling of Theme/Immersion, Family 5).

The Three Pillars: see Encounter & Challenge Design

Time Cave: A narrative topology where every choice branches.

Time Loop Patterns: Loop arc phases; knowledge-as-progression; exit types.

Time-Skips: see Scene Structure & Transitions

Toponymy: see Naming Craft: Characters & Locations

Track: see Progress Clock

Traitor Mechanics: see Cooperative vs Adversarial Formats

Treasure & Scavenger Hunts: The outdoor / distributed trail tradition.

Treasure Hunt: see Treasure & Scavenger Hunts

Trope Subversion: see Tropes, Archetypes & Variations

Tropes, Archetypes & Variations: Archetypes; tropes as tools; subversion techniques (underpins the genre articles).

Trust, Conformity & Social Pressure: The hub: designing genuine social pressure on a foundation of consent (Asch/Milgram, social-deduction lineage).

Try-Fail Cycles & Escalation: The four-outcome failure engine; escalation; failure as branch.

TTRPG Format Taxonomy: Map of TTRPG design traditions by design DNA.

TTRPG Traditions: see TTRPG Format Taxonomy

Turn Order: see Turn Structure & Action Economy

Turn Structure & Action Economy: Who acts when and how much; downtime and its cures.

U

Universal vs Bespoke Systems: see System vs Setting

V

Variability: see Replayability

Verifiability Compact: see Designer-Community Trust in Long-Form Hunts

Voice & Register Consistency: The narrator contract; register shifts; branch-drift audit.

Voice Drift: see Voice & Register Consistency

Voice Markers: see Character Voice

Voicing NPCs: see NPC Craft & Voicing

W

Weatherproofing: see Materials, Durability & Reset

Web App Gating: see Digital Gating & State

West Marches & the Open-Table Format: Player-driven open-table play; persistent shared map; coordination at scale.

Who Knows What: see Information Asymmetry: Hidden Information vs Hidden Roles

Who-Knows-What-When: see Information Architecture

Whodunit: see Mystery & Detective Fiction

Wilderness Exploration: see Hexcrawl & Pointcrawl

Workshop Tiers: see Fabrication & Sourcing

World Consistency: see Worldbuilding Patterns

World-Affordance Puzzles: see Search, Observation & Lateral Thinking

Worldbuilding Patterns: Internal logic, Sanderson’s First Law, the iceberg, branching world-state.

Wretched & Alone Games: see Solo Journaling RPGs: Genre & Form

Writing as the Game: see The Journal as Artefact

Y

Yes-But / No-And: see Try-Fail Cycles & Escalation

Yes/No Oracle: see Oracle & Solo-Play Resolution