Tabletop Game Design for Video Game Designers

Chapter ElevenEconomies

Introduction

A game’s economy comprises the assets that are available to players and the mechanics that dictate how those assets move through the game’s system. Economy mechanics can make up a game’s core mechanic and provide the game’s fundamental actions. Alternatively, economies can serve a secondary role that supports a non-economic core mechanic: for instance, reining in players’ ability to perform certain actions by placing a cost on them. Either way, economic systems can off er you fertile ground for designing player actions and shaping interesting choices.

The learning objectives for this chapter are:

1. Understand the characteristics of game assets, resources, and victory points and how their use can lead to ...