Give Each Resource a Use That Changes Available Actions
Energy can limit exploration distance, materials can constrain repair order, and time can prevent simultaneous tasks. First identify which action becomes unavailable when the resource runs out and how the player learns this. If only a number in the interface changes while available actions and results remain identical, there is no resource decision yet.
| Item to define | Question |
|---|---|
| Initial amount and replenishment | Where does it come from? Can it be obtained repeatedly? |
| Time of payment | Is it deducted on click, at start, or on completion? |
| Prerequisite gate | When short, is the action disabled, allowed to fail, or offered an alternative? |
| Later use | Which later action does spending now displace? |
| Readable feedback | Show the cost before action and the balance and new options afterward |
Record concrete facts such as whether a character agreed to testify and whether a promise was honored separately. A single “relationship score” cannot automatically replace those different consequences.
Original Level: One Rover Sampling Round Trip
The following fictional level illustrates the method. A rover leaves base with 10 energy. The player chooses either the east or west slope, performs one sampling action, and returns along the same route. They cannot cross between areas or leave again, and there are no chargers or random events en route. Returning to base and submitting the collected samples completes the primary objective. At base, the player may also spend 3 energy to activate a night beacon for an additional result. Before departure, the map shows each full route’s energy cost, sample yield, and beacon cost.
| Action | Energy cost | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Travel to east slope | 2 | Arrive at east slope |
| Sample east slope once | 2 | Gain 4 samples |
| Return from east slope | 2 | Reach base and submit samples for free |
| Travel to west slope | 3 | Arrive at west slope |
| Sample west slope once | 3 | Gain 9 samples |
| Return from west slope | 3 | Reach base and submit samples for free |
| Activate beacon once at base | 3 | Beacon activates |
Before an action starts, the system checks whether energy meets its cost. If so, it deducts the cost and completes the action. If not, the action cannot start and no energy is deducted. The beacon can be activated once, either before departure or after returning. Submission requires the rover to have returned with samples and costs no extra energy.
Calculate Costs Through Settlement Before Comparing Choices
| Route | Result |
|---|---|
| East sampling round trip | 10−2−2−2. Balance/location: 4. 4 samples, with enough energy to spend 3 on the beacon |
| West sampling round trip | 10−3−3−3. Balance/location: 1. 9 samples; beacon no longer available |
| Beacon first, then east | 10−3−2−2−2. Balance/location: 1. Beacon active and 4 samples submitted |
| Beacon first, then sample west | 10−3−3−3. Balance/location: 1, still on west slope. Cannot pay the return cost of 3 |
The design creates a tradeoff between more samples and fewer samples plus the beacon. If the player cares only about sample quantity, west is plainly better. If the beacon has no later function, an interface claim that both routes have advantages is empty; give the beacon a real function or revise the promise. Do not hide unequal rewards behind “every choice matters.”
The final row needs a separate ruling. If players may knowingly exhaust a resource, they need advance warning, a clear failure reason, and an available restart. If the level promises that a new player will not become trapped by departure order, checking single-action cost is insufficient. Once the beacon is active, prevent westward departure and explain: “7 energy remaining; a west-slope round trip requires 9.” Which rule is right depends on the experience this level promises.
After Changing One Cost, Recalculate Every Affected Route
Suppose the east slope gains a sampling bonus and now also yields 9 samples while its total cost remains 6. Under the goals listed here, east now gives the same sample reward as west and leaves enough energy to activate the beacon. West no longer offers a corresponding advantage. If the design still promises a resource tradeoff, this change breaks that promise.
You can restore different rewards between the routes or accept that the level needs only one sampling route and remove the redundant choice. Add a new rule such as sample types only if the project genuinely needs distinct sampling goals. Do not keep adding currencies, probabilities, and upgrade systems to preserve a useless option.
Recalculate from the same initial state after every numeric change. Change sampling cost and check the balance, return, and beacon. Change the beacon gate and check both routes and the beacon-first paths. If implementation values differ from the design document, first determine which side delivers the chosen experience, then update that side. Do not automatically copy the current code’s figures into every document.
Give AI Requirements It Can Actually Calculate
Give the AI the rules table, initial state, and objective, and explicitly ask it to show the balance and action eligibility at every step rather than returning only “the numbers look reasonable.”
This is a small level with one departure, sampling action, and return. Using the attached resource rules, calculate both normal routes and the beacon-first routes. Identify the step where action eligibility is lost and whether the player could see why beforehand. Compare the options against the promise of a tradeoff between sample yield and the beacon result. Preserve both design alternatives—allowing failure and preventing accidental dead ends—and state which rule each changes. Do not add currencies, upgrades, or random systems, and do not present route calculations as a completed playtest.
Test deterministic rules first, then observe understanding and choice during real playtests. These limited paths can expose a specific flaw in this level; they cannot prove long-term economic balance or guarantee that players will find it fun.
FAQ
Should every route be able to complete the level?
It depends on the design promise. A level that permits failure can retain routes that exhaust resources, but players must understand the risk, see why they failed, and know how to retry. If the sole required route becomes blocked by accident, revise the rule or cost.
Can I start with a universal spending ratio?
Define actions, replenishment opportunities, and ending conditions first. The same energy ratio creates different decisions when recharging is always available versus when a journey is one-way until return. Derive costs from this project’s routes and goals, then adjust from actual playtests.
Do it with the skill
In a project that already has SOURCE_BIBLE.md, a selected CONCEPT.md, and PRODUCT_BRIEF.md, use /game-world-design to design resource rules—or $game-world-design in Codex. Record every cost, the point at which each resource value is checked, and the visible feedback. Calculate representative routes and counterexamples that would invalidate the promised tradeoff, then write the result into GAME_DESIGN. Deliver design only: do not build the game or claim to have completed a playtest.
Read the method: Method used in this article