Decay (Dynamic)

About this model

Decay in game design refers to the gradual deterioration or decline of game elements, systems, or player progress over time. It introduces a sense of impermanence and creates dynamic challenges and decision-making opportunities for players.

This diagram models a system where players can hack computers to gain experience points (XP) in a game-like scenario, reflecting mechanics similar to those found in cyberpunk-themed games. The system comprises a source node that represents the act of hacking computers, two pool nodes that track the total XP earned and the total number of hacks, respectively, and a register node with a diminishing returns formula applied to the XP earned from each successive hack. Each time a computer is hacked, the hack count increases by one, and XP is earned. However, the amount of XP earned for each hack diminishes according to a cubic formula, which ensures that while early hacks yield higher XP, the XP gain decreases significantly with each additional hack, simulating a decaying reward system to prevent infinite XP farming. This mechanic encourages players to strategically choose their hacks or to progress in different ways within the game’s ecosystem.

“Decay (Dynamic)” is a diagram in the Machinations Community by Anıl Akhan.

You can open the original diagram in the Machinations app, press Play to watch how resources move through it, and change its values to see how the system responds. Machinations is a visual tool for designing, simulating and balancing game economies and other systems, where resources flow through sources, pools, drains, converters and gates. In a diagram, a source creates resources, a pool stores them, a drain removes them, a converter changes one resource into another and a gate decides where they go next.