Game Balance Economy
Use this skill when a game system needs numerical tuning. Balance is not just fairness; it is the shape of player decisions over time. A good balance pass names the intended experience before changing numbers.
Source Traceability
Primary source: The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Third Edition by Jesse Schell, especially chapters 12-13 on chance, expected value, fairness, challenge, meaningful choices, rewards, punishment, and economies. The workflow is transformed and paraphrased.
Supporting sources include MDA for reasoning from mechanics to dynamics and accessibility guidance for difficulty options that preserve player agency.
Workflow
- Define the target experience: tense, generous, punishing, expressive, strategic, chaotic, readable, or mastery-driven.
- Map resources, sinks, sources, rewards, costs, probabilities, time, and failure penalties.
- Find dominant strategies, dead choices, runaway feedback, grind, scarcity collapse, and opaque randomness.
- Use expected value and simulation where useful, but validate with playtests.
- Produce a tuning table with ranges, defaults, rationale, and telemetry.
Required Output
Balance Intent: what the numbers should make players feel and do.Economy Map: sources, sinks, currencies, rewards, gates, and conversion rates.Tuning Table: parameters, default values, safe ranges, and intended effects.Risk Review: dominant strategies, exploits, fairness issues, and accessibility concerns.Validation Plan: spreadsheet checks, script checks, playtest tasks, and telemetry.
Helper Script
Use scripts/expected_value.py for quick expected value checks:
python3 path/to/game-balance-economy/scripts/expected_value.py --outcome 0:0.5 --outcome 10:0.5
Local References
Before producing a tuning plan, read:
references/core/guide.mdworkflows/tuning-pass.md
1---2name: game-balance-economy3description: Balance game difficulty, resources, rewards, probability, progression, economies, and dominant strategies. Use when tuning combat, loot, upgrades, scoring, level curves, AI difficulty, risk-reward choices, or any system where numbers shape player decisions.4license: MIT5---67# Game Balance Economy89Use this skill when a game system needs numerical tuning. Balance is not just fairness; it is the shape of player decisions over time. A good balance pass names the intended experience before changing numbers.1011## Source Traceability1213Primary source: *The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Third Edition* by Jesse Schell, especially chapters 12-13 on chance, expected value, fairness, challenge, meaningful choices, rewards, punishment, and economies. The workflow is transformed and paraphrased.1415Supporting sources include MDA for reasoning from mechanics to dynamics and accessibility guidance for difficulty options that preserve player agency.1617## Workflow18191. Define the target experience: tense, generous, punishing, expressive, strategic, chaotic, readable, or mastery-driven.202. Map resources, sinks, sources, rewards, costs, probabilities, time, and failure penalties.213. Find dominant strategies, dead choices, runaway feedback, grind, scarcity collapse, and opaque randomness.224. Use expected value and simulation where useful, but validate with playtests.235. Produce a tuning table with ranges, defaults, rationale, and telemetry.2425## Required Output2627- `Balance Intent`: what the numbers should make players feel and do.28- `Economy Map`: sources, sinks, currencies, rewards, gates, and conversion rates.29- `Tuning Table`: parameters, default values, safe ranges, and intended effects.30- `Risk Review`: dominant strategies, exploits, fairness issues, and accessibility concerns.31- `Validation Plan`: spreadsheet checks, script checks, playtest tasks, and telemetry.3233## Helper Script3435Use `scripts/expected_value.py` for quick expected value checks:3637```bash38python3 path/to/game-balance-economy/scripts/expected_value.py --outcome 0:0.5 --outcome 10:0.539```4041## Local References4243Before producing a tuning plan, read:4445- `references/core/guide.md`46- `workflows/tuning-pass.md`
ConcertoNotes