Editing Game mechanics (section)

=== Game mechanics vs. theme ===
A game's mechanics are not its [[Theme (narrative)|theme]]. Some games have a theme—some element of representation. For example, in ''[[Monopoly (board game)|Monopoly]],'' the events of the game represent another activity, the buying and selling of properties. Two games that are mechanically similar can be thematically different, and visa versa. The tension between a game's mechanics and theme is [[ludonarrative dissonance]].<ref name="The Game Critique">{{cite web |last=Swain |first=Eric |date=August 25, 2010 |title=In Defense of Ludonarrative Dissonance |url=http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/in-defense-of-ludonarrative-dissonance/2283/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218081926/http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/in-defense-of-ludonarrative-dissonance/2283/ |archive-date=December 18, 2010 |access-date=December 27, 2010 |work=The Game Critique}}</ref><ref name="Clint Hocking">{{cite web |last=Hocking |first=Clint |date=October 7, 2007 |title=Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock |url=https://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114172154/https://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html |archive-date=January 14, 2020 |access-date=November 19, 2018 |work=Click Nothing |via=TypePad}}</ref><ref name="Tom Bissell">{{cite book |last=Bissell |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Bissell |title=Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter |title-link=Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter |publisher=Pantheon Books, New York |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-307-37870-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/extraliveswhyvid00biss/page/37 37–38]}}</ref>

Abstract games do not have themes, because the action is not intended to represent anything. [[Go (game)|Go]] is an example of an abstract game.