I love anything with a tech tree or a skill tree or items that improve based on usage. The ratchet and clank games have such a great mix of all of those things, I end up spending a bunch of time just leveling up the guns!

Games with high mobility mechanics like titanfall, echo point nova, doom eternal, destiny 2 strand hunters.

I’m not sure if this counts as gameplay mechanics or rather narrative structure, but games like Outer Wilds, Fez, Tunic, where the exploration and discovery of the game is the end goal of playing the game, not just getting to the game’s end state.

I’m not sure if there’s an accepted term for these games, but I’ve always thought of them as “archaeology” games. There’s a bunch of stuff, both plot and gameplay, that is hidden (sometimes in plain sight), until you discover it and find out what meaning it carries.

Parry and riposte mechanics make me happy. Idk why exactly, but something about timing a parry and making the enemy entirely helpless for the followup is just great.

Dynamic skill leveling: maybe it’s not an actual stat with a number you can watch go up as you keep using a particular play style, but I like when games let you and your gear get stronger together the more you use them.

Puzzles, traditional or unique, as well as physics and spatial-heavy thinking.

I don’t know the name of it, but I really enjoy the sort of gameplay where you roll up to an enemy compound or something, and then you just sort of chip away at it and cause chaos until it all falls apart.

The sort of thing you’d do in Farcry, where you’d snipe some dudes, plant traps, shoot the tiger cage so the tiger would get out and eat people etc.

Survival mechanics like S.T.A.L.K.E.R and New Vegas, dont give a damn for building mechanics though unless its simplified down to a simple upgrade system like Skyrim Hearthsfire DLC.

I really REALLY enjoy boss invulnerability phases.

I do enjoy game mechanics that interact in emergent ways that weren’t fully planned out by the developer in games like Dwarf Fortress.

Peaceful exploration

I’m currently a big fan of the ‘trading’ enemies and then planning your attacks system in Sniper Elite.

I used to think i didn’t like fighting games, but I fell in love when I found a game with characters and mechanics I really liked (Mark of the Wolves) and realized that technical skill means nothing unless you have good fundamentals and can read and react to the opponent. Now KoF XV and SF6 are two of my favorite games and I have a lot of fun playing and practicing :3

Intricate character building with multi-class synergies. Is. My. Shiiiiiit!

Small wonder I love BG3 and Owlcat’s Pathfinder games.

I’ve only realized it recently that I’m obsessed with simulator games. Eurot Truck Simulator 2, Software Inc, Minecraft? Rollercoaster Tycoon, etc.