The game mechanics you never get bored of

I recently played an old SNES game called Wild Guns for the first time, and was extremely impressed at how delightful the basic dodge mechanic was. Hit the buttons and your character does a dramatic bullet dodge dive left or right. It’s great, fundamental ‘game feel’, and got me thinking about those other basic mechanics that are endlessly satisfying, no matter how long you play the game. Where the mix of sound, visual, control and even things like a simple rumble can really hit hard every single time.

I’m thinking things like:

Super Mario Galaxy’s star shake / planet hop. Especially with motion controls, the simple flick of the wrist sends you hurtling through space.

Bayonetta’s dodge, which triggers witch time. A giddy burst of power as a reward for elegantly dodging an attack. The generous timing helps, and then the instant rush of being gloriously overpowered.

The Sekiro parry, which is simply perfect and ruins other games’ parry mechanics.

The active reload from Gears of War, which is beautifully simple.

Breath of the Wild’s stamina bar, and how it balances risk and reward.

Threes - the immense satisfaction of simply melding the pieces together, especially with bigger numbers.

Any favourites?