Abstract Existing research in player typologies has presented theories to try and explain players’ behavior during gameplay. Many typologies are context or genre specific and therefore are potentially limiting their practicality in other contexts. To date, no existing research categorizes players based on their explicit preferences for game elements and mechanics (GEMs). To this end, an analysis of three surveys (n = 279, n = 231, n = 162), using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed practical insights towards players’ preferences for GEMs, specifically three game elements and four game mechanic factors. These results provide the foundation for what is described as the GEM Framework. To investigate their practical use, a game design tool known as Gamicards was modified to accommodate the GEM Framework. Lastly, a workshop (n = 47) assessed the use of the GEM Framework with Gamicards as a tool during the game design and prototyping process. This work extends the current understanding of what GEMs players prefer and discusses the practical implications of using the GEM Framework with Gamicards and player modelling techniques.