⇢ Connections

Triggers

Triggers are State Connections between two Nodes or between an origin Node and the Formula of a Resource Connection.

They do not change numeric values the way Formula and Node Modifiers do. Rather, a Trigger fires when all the inputs of its origin Node become satisfied: when each input brings in the number of Resources to the Node as indicated by its flow rate. A firing Trigger will, in turn, fire its target.

In Monopoly, players might transfer money to the bank in order to trigger the transfer of property from the bank into their possession. Here’s a diagram showcasing this simple exchange of goods, in which a player pays 3 Money Resources to the bank for 1 Property.

! Click on the Player Money Pool, to trigger the money and property transfers.

Here’s a diagram showcasing possible scenarios for using triggers.

Some games might require negative responses when the player doesn’t have the Resources needed by an automatic or randomly triggered element. For example, in Civilization when the player runs out of gold to pay the upkeep for his cities’ improvements, the game automatically sells some of them.

To simulate this type of event, Machinations includes Reverse Triggers.

If its source Node tries to pull Resources but cannot pull all Resources as indicated by the Source’s input Connections, the Reverse Trigger will fire its target Node.