
- BGG rating
- 7.1
Mechanica: Inventions & Overlords
- 1–4 players
- 45–60 min
- Complexity 2.0/5
- 2020

2020
Rules assistance for Mechanica
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 1 player

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Mechanica is a board game released in 2020 for 1–4 players, 45–75 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Max Seidman, Mary Flanagan, and Emma Hobday and its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Network and Route Building, and Bias.
Mechanica Inc. will make the world spotless with their Tidybots: ambitious vacuum robots made for global DOMINATION cleanliness! Humans are messy. It’s time they got some help! Build the best Tidybot factory and ship out as many Tidybots as possible to prepare for (the definitely harmless) OPERATION CLEANUP. The player who has sold the most money worth of Tidybots wins! Mechanica is a game of tile-laying and engine building. Each player buys puzzle piece-shaped machines and slots them together to form their factory. The different machines all improve the Tidybots your factory can make: building new Tidybots, upgrading them, copying them, and more. There are many strategies for putting your machines together, and everyone has fun trying to build the perfect factory! Players compete to buy the best machines for their factory at the best prices while running their factories, shipping out Tidybots for profit, completing specialty bot blueprints to fill their vaults with money, and turning the rotating shop wheel. Awards & Honors: BostonFIG Fest // 2019 - Most Innovative
Mechanica supports 1–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Mechanica is 45–75 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Mechanica for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Mechanica has a complexity rating of 2.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Mechanica belongs to these categories: Puzzle, Science Fiction, and Industry / Manufacturing. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Network and Route Building, and Bias. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Mechanica are: Max Seidman, Mary Flanagan, and Emma Hobday. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Mechanica as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.