Survival System

Ludic Organisational Structure · V – Developmental Order (semantically: survival pressure; context-dependent) subsistence · Tipping potential: high

Survival orders through permanent pressure: without constant action the situation deteriorates. It forces prioritization and creates the basic tension between short-term survival and long-term progress. Context-dependent.

Design question – How does your game create permanent pressure that agents must actively counteract?

Reference example – The Long Dark: cold, hunger and thirst gnaw constantly – every decision asks what is most urgent now. Frostpunk: coal for warmth or food for the people? The city has to survive the winter. Robinson Crusoe: every round demands food and shelter while the weather gets worse.

Ordering domain

Orders through permanent decay that agents must actively counteract.

Emergent behaviour

the death spiral (weakening → less agency → faster decay), the stabilization moment and the prioritization dynamics under pressure.

Core Mechanisms

• Decay (MEC-04) – Resources/states deteriorate continuously.
• Production (MEC-01) – Agents must actively produce countermeasures.
• Schedule (MEC-14) – time-clocked pressure – hunger, thirst, cold in cycles.

Dynamic Mechanisms

• Accumulation (MEC-02) – Build up supplies as a buffer.
• Selection (MEC-07) – Prioritization – what is most urgent now?
• Construction (MEC-05) – Protective structures, tools, camps.
• Conversion (MEC-03) – Raw materials → food, materials → protection.
• Randomization (MEC-20) – unpredictable environmental events.

Feedback architecture

• positive – Death spiral: weakening → less agency → faster decay (destructive). (Decay)
• negative – Stabilization: good provisioning → stability → room to manoeuvre; diminishing returns dampen it. (Production)

Design parameters

• Decay speed – slow ↔ fast (constant pressure)
• Decay channels – one (hunger only) ↔ several in parallel
• Stabilizability – achievable ↔ impossible (permanent pressure)
• Unpredictability – plannable ↔ random crises
• Death-spiral strength – mild ↔ brutal (fast collapse)

Risk profile

• Runaway leader – high
• Kingmaking – low
• Stagnation – medium
• Complexity ceiling – medium

Compatible with

• Exploration System (ST-10) – Compatible: exploration provides survival resources.
• Crafting / Recipe System (ST-18) – Compatible: crafting tools and protection.
• Ecosystem (ST-15) – Compatible: the environment as threat and resource.

Tension with

• Technology / Research System (ST-14) – Tension: research vs. survival resources.
• Production Chain (ST-03) – Tension: long-term investment vs. immediate need.