They aren’t supposed to be but if you have enough money anything can be patentable, copyrightable, or trademarkable.

No, game mechanics aren’t subject to copyright law. Game mechanics can be patented in the US, so long as they’re unique and nonobvious (to someone with ordinary skill in the field).

Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering both had patents on their mechanics, for example.

And of course, patents in Japan are a completely different animal than patents in the US.

Load screen minigames was patented for quite a few years, it’s the reason we couldn’t have fun while waiting for the game to load. The patent has run out tho I think, but nowadays it doesn’t matter cause SSDs

They have been for the longest time, and it’s as ridiculous as it sounds.