Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ian Bogost published an article titled The Rhetoric of Video Games in 1992 that questioned how scholars define rules governing play. The text reveals no single consensus exists on what game mechanics actually are.
Geoffrey Engelstein and Isaac Shalev wrote about this ambiguity in their book Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design. They noted that while all games use mechanics, theories disagree on their importance to the whole.
Stewart Woods identified Keydom released in 1998 as the first implementation of worker allocation. Caylus popularized the mechanic in 2005 becoming a Eurogame staple.
A single die produces equal probability landing on any particular side creating linear curves. Two dice sum to form bell-shaped distributions decreasing likelihood of extreme results.
Minecraft Palworld Divinity Original Sin Stardew Valley and Dungeons & Dragons all utilize crafting. Mystic Vale deck-building card games rely on set collection mechanics for item creation.