This is a thought I’ve had recently, that many of the really good games around have one very strong central game mechanic which you could almost use alone and beat the entire game with, still having a huge fun.

Super Mario Bros. is an obvious example of that, the jumping system being that core feature I’m referring to. You could use the fire flowers, it makes the game more manageable, but you can beat the game by only jumping, and it’s a lot of fun nonetheless.

Mirror’s Edge even rewarded you with an achievement/trophy if you end the game without firing a single bullet. The game allows you to use enemies weapons, but shooting is only one way of going through a level. Running is enough to beat the game, and enough to have some fun.

On the contrary, some games have tons of features to play with, which is cool, don’t get me wrong. But if their core feature is not fun, everything that is built on top of it will fail to entertain.

(go see the hi-res version on Deviant-Art)