Machinations

I came across an interesting tool, today, called Machinations. It’s a simulator to assist game designers in mapping out and balancing game mechanics and economies. You basically create flow diagrams that model aspects of game play and then let them run to see how things shake out. This feels like it could make a good tool for a fantasy writer looking to add a bit of realism to their stories.

• Map out fantasy economies
• See how trade networks are affected by monster attacks
• Exchange rate calculations for in-story currencies
• Mapping out the expected returns on standalone versus books in a series