Slippery slope

About this model

This diagram illustrates a competitive resource management system between two players, primarily focused on accumulating resources and utilizing them to obtain buildings, which in turn influences resource acquisition rates. Both players start with a passive source of resources ("Player 1 resources" and "Player 2 resources" pools) that receive a constant addition of resources. These resources can then be used to acquire buildings from a shared pool ("Available buildings"), transferring the acquired buildings to their respective "owned buildings" pools. Each player's ability to acquire more resources is potentially enhanced through automatic gates ("Chance to get resources") that add resources based on a probabilistic mechanism (20% chance), influenced positively by the number of buildings owned.

The gameplay mechanics are further enriched by converters that act on the resource transaction to the buildings pools, and state connections modifying the probability of resource acquisition based on the buildings owned, creating a feedback loop that can exponentially benefit the player with more buildings. This system creates a dynamic interplay between resource management and strategic investment in building acquisition, where the accumulation of buildings not only provides immediate advantages but also enhances future resource gains, potentially leading to a significant disparity between players over time as indicated by the diagram's note regarding positive feedback loops, hinting at a critical balance challenge.

"Slippery slope" is a public Machinations diagram shared in the Community by Cezar Cocias, with 23 components.

It was created in June 2023 and last edited in October 2023.

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.