Resources in games (Part 3): Life cycle

Enrico
4 min readJul 25, 2024

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In this article, we will continue the discussion examining what the life cycle of resources is. If you missed the first two parts of the article, you can find them here and here.

As a game is being played, a resource generally follows a life cycle that begins as soon as it enters the game and ends when it is used and leaves the game.

Some resources are given to participants during set-up and come into play from the beginning of the game. If you examine the quantity of starting resources against those that players will have during the game, at least four possible starting configurations can be identified.

The first configuration is the initial state of maximum resources. In this case, players are immediately provided with all the resources they may dispose of and may only lose or consume them during the game. This system can be found in many chequerboard games. Usually, when this initial configuration is present, victory conditions require players to either be the last one standing with resources or the first to use them all.

The second configuration is the initial state of minimum resources. In this case, a minimal set of resources is provided to players. Sometimes, no resources are provided. During the game, players must improve their situation in order to reach the number of final resources required to trigger victory conditions. It often occurs that starting from a similar situation, the first moves of the game are always the same. It is highly probable that players at the start of the game try to gather the minimum quantity of resources necessary in order to establish a strategy. This may lead to a repetitive feeling in the first few turns.

The third configuration is the initial state of scarce resources. This case differs from the previous one in that a certain quantity of resources is provided to players, albeit not many, that allow standard opening moves to be avoided and for interesting actions to be played from the start of the match. Furthermore, initial resources can be used to direct players towards different strategies.

The fourth configuration is the state of constant resources. In this case, players are granted a certain number of initial resources that remains constant throughout the entire game. Games where participants draw a card during their turn, add it to their existing hand and play another are part of this category.

During the game, new resources can then come into play and can be generated in one of two ways depending on their type. Primary resources are provided directly by the game. For example, an income that is distributed at the beginning of a turn is quite a common example of this case. On the other hand, intermediate and final resources are obtained from the transformation of other resources through the use of a specific action. An example might be the construction of a building through payment of wood and stone.

During the time the resource is in play, it may undergo several changes in state. Each state represents a particular situation in which the resource presents specific properties within the game. For example, it may be that a resource must be activated before it can be used. It can be a resource which is initially not very effective, but upgradable to increase its productivity.

The interesting aspect about the concept of state is that it becomes possible to introduce new functions into the game without needing to use ulterior resources. For example, in order to satisfy objectives, it is commonly necessary to transform primary or intermediary resources into final resources. This involves having to use different types of resources. An alternative to this could be linking the objective to achieving the specific state of a resource.

It is the designer’s role to define the number of states a resource can have, the characteristics of each state, and what must be done to pass from one state to another. Furthermore, another very important aspect that the designer should define is deciding how to keep track of the state of a resource within the game.

At a certain point, players end up wanting to use the resources they hold. Each resource generally has a specific function in the game. However, it is very common for the game system to allow the use of a resource for multiple purposes. This can introduce certain advantages to the game. Firstly, the system becomes more flexible and fluid. For example, imagine a case where players discover that after having gathered a resource, what they wanted to use it for is no longer convenient in the game’s situation. In this case, if the resource allows for it, it can be used in a different way instead of it going unused. Secondly, this may be a way to make the game system more interesting since players must choose how to use resources based on whatever is more convenient in a given moment.

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My Book

Designing Board Games: Game Structure

This topic is also addressed in my book. Within it, you can find in-depth discussions on this and other subjects related to board game design.

Designing Board Games: Game Structure

For more information about this book, you can refer to this story.

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