Game economy flow: from goal to feedback
Snapshot
~80 sec
A game economy is a decision system: a goal shapes where an invented resource enters, what choice it enables, where it leaves, and which signal tells the designer whether the loop is understandable.
You will learn
- Separate a system goal from its source and sink rules.
- Trace one generic resource through a player decision.
- Use feedback as a design signal rather than as decoration.
Target outcome
You can sketch a small economy flow and explain why every connection exists.
Visual walkthrough
Visual walkthrough
~6 min
Five parts of a readable economy flow
Goal
The player decision or learning outcome the system is meant to support.
Source
A declared rule that introduces a generic resource into the model.
Decision
The meaningful choice made possible by the available resource.
Sink
A declared rule that removes the resource in exchange for an outcome.
Signal
An observable result used to inspect whether the intended choice stays clear.
Follow one invented resource through the loop
The diagram is a teaching model, not a tuning recommendation. Read it as a closed review cycle: goal through signal, then back to whether the goal still holds.
System goal
Define the decision the loop should make understandable.
definesPractice source
An invented activity adds one generic token to the model.
enablesPlayer decision
The player chooses whether to keep or exchange the token.
commitsPractice sink
The exchange removes the token and produces a declared outcome.
revealsDecision signal
The next visible choice shows whether the loop stayed legible.
reviewsDecision signal → System goal
The diagram is a teaching model, not a tuning recommendation. Read it as a closed review cycle: goal through signal, then back to whether the goal still holds. Reading order
- System goal
Define the decision the loop should make understandable.
- Practice source
An invented activity adds one generic token to the model.
- Player decision
The player chooses whether to keep or exchange the token.
- Practice sink
The exchange removes the token and produces a declared outcome.
- Decision signal
The next visible choice shows whether the loop stayed legible.
Connection explanations
- System goal → Practice source (defines)
The goal constrains why the source exists and what it should make possible.
- Practice source → Player decision (enables)
A source is useful only when its output creates an understandable decision.
- Player decision → Practice sink (commits)
Committing to the choice sends the invented token to a named sink.
- Practice sink → Decision signal (reveals)
The outcome leaves a visible next decision that can be reviewed.
- Decision signal → System goal (reviews)
The signal closes the cycle by asking whether the original goal decision stayed legible.
Compare two ways to document the same loop
Approach Purpose Cause and effect Review question Totals onlyLists amounts without stating why movement exists. The intended decision stays implicit. Inputs and outputs appear disconnected. Reviewers can only ask whether totals look large or small. Relationship firstNames the goal, movement, decision, and observable result. Every rule points back to a declared decision. Each connection explains what changes next. Reviewers can test whether the intended choice remains legible. Check the flow
If a source adds a resource but no later decision changes, what is missing from the model?
Expected reasoning
The source is disconnected from a meaningful choice. Connect its output to a decision, name the consequence, and define the signal that will make that consequence observable.