Steadily Decreasing Resources
The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Contents
Examples
In both Chess and Stratego players have a limited number of pieces they can make use of, and these are slowly but surely used up as gameplay progresses. While there are a limited number of stones in Go, the positions to place these in are the actual Steadily Decreasing Resources.
In Hey! That's My Fish!, the gameplay area is slowly reduced as players take pieces of it as part of their turns. The gameplay area in Forbidden Island also shrinks but here as an effect of passing time and players have a possibility of slowing this.
Using the pattern
Steadily Decreasing Resources is, quite obviously, a way of restricting Resources during game instances. This depends on two factors.
First, that the game system does not allow ways of introducing new Resources during games, so e.g. Resource Generators and Spawning can remove the presence of the pattern from a game (Converters may work as long as the material being converted is a Steadily Decreasing Resources).
Second, players must have some need to use or consume the Resources. This can be enforce by making it part of player actions (as in Go) or by "bribing" players to do this by having the used Resources as Victory Points indicators.
Consequences
Steadily Decreasing Resources lead to Limited Gameplay Time since the consumption of the Resources forces games to an end state at a speed equal to the decrease. It is likely to make each use of a Resource into an Investment, and create Entrenching Gameplay since options of using the Resources also disappear as the Resources do. As long as players can compete over the Resources, the pattern is even more likely than Limited Resources to create Conflicts.
Steadily Decreasing Resources can give rise to Unwinnable Games simply if the demand for the Resources is unlimited.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Conflicts, Entrenching Gameplay, Investments, Limited Gameplay Time, Unwinnable Games
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
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Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
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Acknowledgements
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