Zantovia

About this model

Design and simulate a solo, session-based Discord strategy game economy.

The game should be playable by one player and should not require cooperation, story content, character dialogue, or visual assets. The main appeal should come from resource management, timing, risk, optimization, and meaningful trade-offs.

Core requirements:

* Session length: approximately 8–12 minutes * Structure: 6 timed rounds * One player per session * Minimal slash-command usage * Main actions should be represented as buttons or select-menu choices * Each round should take approximately 30–60 seconds * The player should make one important decision per round * The game must continue automatically if the player does not respond * The session should end with a clear score and performance grade * Persistent progression may unlock new strategies, but should not create overwhelming numerical advantages

Create a Machinations model with these core resources:

* Credits: spendable currency used during the session * Energy: limits how many actions the player can take * Production: determines recurring resource generation * Heat: a danger meter that increases when the player takes aggressive actions * Stability: reduces the chance or impact of negative events * Score: the final measure of performance

Starting values:

* Credits: 10 * Energy: 6 * Production: 2 * Heat: 0 * Stability: 3 * Score: 0

At the beginning of each round:

* Gain Credits equal to the current Production value * Restore 1 Energy, up to a maximum of 6 * Increase Heat by 1 if Production is 5 or higher * Check whether a negative event occurs based on Heat and Stability

The player chooses one action each round:

1. Produce

* Cost: 1 Energy * Gain: 5 Credits * Heat: +2 * Score: +2

This is the aggressive short-term action.

2. Invest

* Cost: 5 Credits and 1 Energy * Production: +1 * Heat: +1

This improves future income but offers limited immediate value.

3. Stabilize

* Cost: 1 Energy * Stability: +2 * Heat: -2 * Minimum Heat: 0

This sacrifices growth to reduce risk.

4. Overclock

* Cost: 2 Energy * Gain: Credits equal to twice the current Production * Heat: +4 * Score: +4

This is a high-risk action that should be valuable but dangerous when repeatedly used.

5. Convert

* Cost: 8 Credits * Gain: 7 Score * Heat: -1

This allows the player to convert accumulated resources into final performance.

6. Recover

* Cost: no Credits * Gain: 2 Energy * Production: -1 * Minimum Production: 1 * Heat: -1

This is an emergency option for players who run out of Energy.

Negative event system:

At the end of each round, calculate event risk using:

Event Risk = maximum of 0%, Heat × 8% − Stability × 5%

If a negative event occurs, randomly select one consequence:

* Lose 25% of current Credits * Lose 1 Production * Lose 2 Energy * Gain 3 additional Heat * Lose 4 Score

The probability and severity of negative events should make high-Heat strategies viable but unreliable. Stability should be useful without becoming mandatory every round.

Final round:

After Round 6, the player enters a final resolution phase.

Add final Score based on:

* Remaining Credits divided by 2 * Production multiplied by 3 * Stability multiplied by 2 * Remaining Energy * Subtract Heat multiplied by 2

Final Score formula:

Final Score = Current Score

* floor(Credits ÷ 2) * Production × 3 * Stability × 2 * Energy − Heat × 2

Performance grades:

* Below 25: Failed * 25–39: Bronze * 40–54: Silver * 55–69: Gold * 70 or above: Master

Simulation objectives:

Run repeated simulations using at least five player strategies:

* Aggressive: frequently uses Produce and Overclock * Investor: prioritizes early Production growth * Defensive: frequently uses Stabilize * Balanced: alternates between investment, production, stabilization, and conversion * Converter: accumulates Credits and converts them into Score

Test at least 10,000 simulated sessions per strategy.

Evaluate:

* Average final Score * Score variance * Failure rate * Frequency of each performance grade * Average ending Heat * Average ending Production * Average unused Credits * Which action is selected most often * Whether one strategy consistently dominates * Whether early investment is always optimal * Whether defensive play produces competitive scores * Whether aggressive play creates higher average rewards with meaningfully higher variance * Whether recovery creates an exploitable Energy loop * Whether players can ignore Stability without sufficient consequences

Balancing targets:

* Balanced play should produce the highest or near-highest average Score * Aggressive play may occasionally produce the highest scores, but should have greater variance and a noticeably higher failure rate * Defensive play should be reliable but should not achieve the highest average Score * Investing should be strongest in early rounds and weaker in later rounds * No single action should be optimal for more than three consecutive rounds * At least three different strategies should be capable of achieving Gold * Master rank should occur in approximately 5–10% of competent sessions * Failed sessions should occur in fewer than 10% of balanced sessions * Meaningful decisions should remain in the final two rounds * Hoarding Credits without converting or investing should be inefficient

Identify dominant strategies, dead actions, runaway resource growth, positive feedback loops, resource shortages, and situations where the optimal decision becomes obvious.

Recommend adjusted resource values, action costs, probabilities, score rewards, and round count until the model produces varied but understandable solo sessions.

"Zantovia" is a public Machinations diagram shared in the Community by Pratham Patel, with 285 components.

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