Escalating Copy Prices
The first is cheap, the hundredth outrageous, so you keep rotating purchases.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- Design focus
- Economy · Optimization · Planning
No.161Cookie Clicker01The core loop
Action → feedback → next choice- 01Compare value per cost
- 02Buy the best deal
- 03Its price rises
- 04Compare again
↻Feedback changes the situation — the next round starts from there.
Walk through one round
A simplified design example. Situations and numbers illustrate the mechanic, not exact rules from a reference game.
- T1
Turn 1 · The situation
Farm #11 costs 300 for +8/s; Factory #1 costs 1,300 for +47/s. You have 1,400.
- T2
Turn 2 · The player chooses
Payback: farm 37 s, factory about 28 s; you buy the factory.
- T3
Turn 3 · The feedback
Income jumps, and factory #2 now costs about 1,500.
- T4
Turn 4 · The next decision
The next few purchases may swing back to farms.
How it plays
Each extra copy of a producer costs more by a fixed ratio, like ×1.15 per purchase. That keeps lowering any single producer's value, so you rotate between types. Showing payback time—cost divided by income—helps the choice.
What the player weighs
- Cheap low tiers help now but scale up in price fast
- Saving for a high tier costs more but holds value longer
02Start small
Scope is an editorial estimate for the minimum prototype, not the reference game or a production schedule.
03One mechanic, different implementations
Cookie Clicker
Every building's price rises 15% per purchase, a single ratio that anchors the whole economy.
AdVenture Capitalist
Each business has its own growth coefficient, with buy-1/buy-10/buy-to-milestone buttons easing bulk choices.
The difference worth noticing
Cookie Clicker's uniform ratio keeps comparisons simple; AdVenture Capitalist varies ratios to give each business a rhythm.
Case notes are Yoroll editorial summaries; rules may change between versions.
04What could you combine?
Add timed contracts demanding X units by a deadline, so players weigh pricey extra copies against a new producer.
Prototype this combo in Yoroll→Follow the next idea
Spend or Hold the Bonus Currency
This currency buffs you while held, and buys upgrades when spent—pick one.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Earn the special currency
- 02Holding grants a passive buff
- 03Evaluate permanent upgrades
- 04Spend or keep
Program the Route
Turn hauling into a schedule and let the fleet run it day and night.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Pick the stops
- 02Set load and unload rules
- 03Fleet runs on its own
- 04Tune by shortages
Splitting Capacity Across Projects
Your capacity is one pie; only what you slice it to will grow.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Check each project
- 02Reassign capacity
- 03Let progress tick
- 04Unlock, then rebalance