Games have the unique ability for people to form their own narratives without saying a single word. This list some invisible mechanics or solid mechanics that take a back-seat to the greater themes of the game.

The Haunt Roll

From Betrayal on the House of the Hill

Description: In this game, players explore a haunted house and reveal its many rooms. As players explore, they reveal Omen cards that once revealed, requires the player who found the card to make a 'Haunt Roll,' which involves the player to roll five special numbered dice and hope to roll lower than the number of Omens revealed that game. If they roll over... the players are stripped from their comfort zone and thrown into a harrowing game of life and death.

The Haunt Roll is one of the most terrifying mechanics to ever grace the tabletop with its depiction of dread. At the start of the game, players may keep the haunt roll at a lower priority, as they explore the house, but the threat of the haunt roll lingers over the players and only gets stronger as more rooms are explored. When the roll is made while the Omen count is high, players experience visceral reactions against rolling the dice, opting to roll them one at a time or out-right refusing to touch them. A perfect mechanic to capture the feeling of traversing a haunted house.

The Focus

From Microscope

Description: Microscope is a world-building game built on shared creativity. Every turn cycle, a player gets to set the "Focus" and everything made in the world's history this turn cycle must relate to that Focus. The Focus can be about any concept and no one can give suggestions on what the Focus should be. Given the amount of power invested in that player, they are aptly said to be in the 'hotseat'.

Microscope has a strict 'no collaboration' rule. The reasoning being that collaboration slows down the game and hinders the spontanaity that comes from everyone keeping their ideas close to their chest and later having to rewrite those ideas on the fly when someone else adds to the history that is incompatible with their ideas. The player in the hotseat has the greatest amount of power to shatter and restructure players' notions and because of this makes it one of the most dramatic portions of the game.

The Contessa

From Coup

Description: Coup is a cutthroat hidden role game where lives are short and alliances are shorter. Players start with two role cards known only to them in their hand and begin play by participating in an economy, gaining coins and taking coins from one another in order to afford a Coup. Some roles are able to assassinate another player at a discount and only the Contessa is able to block it. Whenever a player is assassinated or has a Coup against them, they discard one of their cards. Once their hand is empty, they are considered dead.

In the end-game, your goal shifts to how fast you can kill your opponents. With the number of players and the number of cards in a player's hand whittling down, tensions are high and players question everything. For the Assassin, a sub-game opens up. Do you kill the person who's been sitting back and collecting coins? Do you go after the Duke who's been taking three coins a turn that you think is lying about her role? A desperate Assassin can be a dangerous thing, one who can be countered with a single flip of a card.

Contempt

From The Quiet Year

Disclaimer: I have not played this game.

Description: The Quiet Year is a map-drawing tabletop role playing game where players become characters who are rebuilding and forming a community after the collapse of civilization. The players take one 'Quiet Year' to build it up and learn how to work together. The question now, is how would conflict be depicted in this game? Contempt is one of the game's answers. Players gain Contempt whenever they feel like they weren't 'consulted or honored in a decision making process.' Players can then use that Contempt to commit selfish actions to the detriment of the community, which in turn, can cause other players to gain Contempt as well. The opposite is true as well, players can remove their Contempt by making amends with players and diffusing tensions.

Nuance is a difficult concept to convey in any piece of art. Some video games have binary Good and Evil systems where one choice or another increments an scale which changes slightly changes any game events. Contempt is The Quiet Year's attempt at capturing messy human dynamics, in particular, the contrast between words and actions. Anyone can make promises and turn around and do the opposite. Contempt provides a currency to force your ideas into existence; to be able to use Contempt as justification for your actions. It's what lets The Quiet Year be 'Quiet' as it gives players and easy way out of any opposing action. Just take a Contempt and act later. A trivial decision at one point can spiral into the rise of factions and teeter your community on the edge of annihilation.