10 Pointless Video Game Mechanics Nobody Used
1. Cooking, Wood Cutting, Etc. - Skyrim
Immersion comes from engrossing a player in your game. By creating a deep world that players want to lose themselves in. Immersion doesn't come from making your game as menial as real life. However, when it came to Skyrim, Bethesda didn't get the memo.
Being able to chop wood for some money isn't fun. Watching your player go through a long drawn out cutscene to have them haul a log onto the saw isn't immersive. Its useless busy-work that doesn't contribute to the game at all.
Then there is the cooking, which offers such a paltry reward that is fundamentally useless. Gathering all these materials just to create a lamb chop (that doesn't heal as much as the lowest tier healing potion, which can be found everywhere) is pointless.
Create an immersive game, not one that is just as boring as the real world. No one wants to chop wood or press a button to cook.