Create a game economy diagram...

About this model

Create a game economy diagram for a competitive industrial city-building board game with 2-4 players. Each player has an independent economy with the following resources as Pools: Time (starts at 120, drains 1/tick — this is the player's "life"), Coal (starts at 1000), Steel (starts at 1000), Beer (starts at 1000), Population (starts at 100, grows +0.1/tick up to 1000), and Economy (starts at 0, generates +Population/50 per tick).

The core production loop works as follows: Population divided by 100 gives Workers. Each tick, if enough Beer is available, Workers consume Beer (−6×workers/tick) and produce Coal (+8×workers/tick), Steel (+3×workers/tick), and more Beer (+3×workers/tick). If Beer reaches 0, production stops and Hope decreases.

Add a Generator node that drains Coal (−3/tick) and controls a Temperature pool (starts at 50, range 0–100). Temperature rises +0.8/tick when Coal is available, drops −2/tick when Coal runs out. When Temperature drops below 20, Population starts dying (−drain). When Temperature is above 60, Hope increases (+0.15/tick) and Discontent decreases. When Temperature is below 30, Hope decreases and Discontent increases.

Add Hope and Discontent pools (both start at 50, range 0–100). These are modified by Temperature, Beer availability, and active Laws.

Add a Time drain that accelerates when Discontent is high. At the end of each round, Time receives a bonus (+10 to +20) based on player efficiency (total resources score). Workers cost salaries that drain Time (−0.5×workers per round).

Include Buildings as a converter: spending Coal + Steel + Economy produces a Building that passively generates resources each tick (coal, steel, beer, or hope per second depending on type).

Add a Beer Market source that allows players to buy Beer by spending Steel, with a price that increases after each purchase (starts at 3 Steel per 10 Beer, max 10).

Add Laws as state connections that multiply production rates (e.g. ×1.5 coal production, ×0.7 beer consumption) permanently once activated.

Add Loans: a source that immediately gives Coal or Steel, but creates a recurring Time drain (+interest 15% per round until paid back).

The Game Over condition triggers when any player's Time pool reaches 0. The winner is the player with the most Time remaining.

Model this for a single player, using color-coded nodes: orange for Coal, amber for Beer, gray for Steel, blue for Population, green for Economy, red for Time, yellow for Hope, purple for Discontent, and red-gradient for Temperature.

Duplicate this entire diagram 4 times for 4 players. Add cross-player state connections representing: Trade (resource transfer between players' pools), Embargo (adds +2/tick to target player's Discontent), and Alliance (reduces Beer Market price by ×0.75 for allied players).

"Create a game economy diagram..." is a public Machinations diagram shared in the Community by Àlex Durden, with 42 components.

It was created in March 2026 and last edited in March 2026.

Open the diagram in the Machinations app and press Play to watch the resources move, adjust its values to test how the system responds, or remix it to make an editable copy in My diagrams.