In the Playground project, we applied a constructionist learning perspective in order to build a computational learning environment in which children could design and build their own video games. In this paper, we present results from a study where children were given semi-structured programming tasks in an adventure game designed to investigate their understanding of program mechanisms. We analyze two children's solutions and approaches to a task as a matter of adaptation of talk and actions to different perspectives involved in the ongoing discourse. The establishment of a common perspective between child and investigator throughout the work sessions proved to be central to how the children approached their work. The analysis showed that in order for children to learn to understand how mechanisms that control a game work, they must learn to adapt their perspective to the expectations of each subtask and to the task as a whole. We show how one child is able to see the expected perspective in each subtask, whereas the other child finds that this is much harder. The support given by the investigators was also of great importance in facilitating these processes. (Contains 4 figures.)