114 points JumpCrisscross 3 hours ago 42 comments
thrance 1 hour ago | parent
> Every rule, vote count and case in this game is drawn from the public record. Sources are in docs/research/ in the project folder. Neighborhood politics scores and the economics are simplified for play.
Nice, I'm happy to hear that, Claude. This kind of silly game is supposed to help you understand a complex issue in a fun way. But this is missing the plot entirely. Why is this so overwhelmingly complex? Why would I spend time learning this ugly, convoluted and verbose UI? Who is this for??
EDIT: I'll link to an example of what I think this game should have been: https://research.wmz.ninja/projects/phd/index.html
A game made with intent, that is easy to pick up, respects its player's time, and makes its point effectively.
rjh29 1 hour ago | parent
Like most vibe coded projects, it is for the person who created it. And usually only them.
deadbabe 1 hour ago | parent
karl11 1 hour ago | parent
thrance 1 hour ago | parent
There's no reason a "housing crisis" game couldn't have been done like that, with simple choices and immediate reactions. A game that respects the player's time, is easy to pick up and makes the point effectively.
zdragnar 1 hour ago | parent
thrance 1 hour ago | parent
Apocryphon 28 minutes ago | parent
howunfortunate 1 hour ago | parent
thrance 1 hour ago | parent
howunfortunate 1 hour ago | parent
thrance 1 hour ago | parent
mulmen 1 hour ago | parent
phoghed 24 minutes ago | parent
jkestner 59 minutes ago | parent
pluc 58 minutes ago | parent
roenxi 49 minutes ago | parent
It is frustrating to be excluded when a game developer builds a game that looks interesting but targets a niche you don't fit in.
Also those https://research.wmz.ninja/projects/phd/index.html style games are a bit vapid. At any moment a person has more than a handful of choices and the simplification abstracts away the important ones, like ranking what ideas are important or changing strategies for idea generation in this one.
hyperhello 1 hour ago | parent
Bratmon 1 hour ago | parent
gchamonlive 1 hour ago | parent
bobthepanda 1 hour ago | parent
scrame 1 hour ago | parent
bobthepanda 56 minutes ago | parent
howunfortunate 1 hour ago | parent
JumpCrisscross 1 hour ago | parent
Locked supply. Affordable housing. Growing standards of living (or population). Pick two.
If you lock supply and want taxes and wages to grow, you're choosing unaffordable housing. That's San Francisco's current policy choice. Over decades, it filters the poor to San Francisco's "outer boroughs" or onto its streets.
For what it's worth, my friends who lived in San Francisco "took the hint" and moved out when they chose to have kids. They didn't sell their place, however, since the above policy mix together with California's property-tax system strongly disincentivizes that.
sebzim4500 37 minutes ago | parent
margalabargala 20 minutes ago | parent
I haven't played OP's game but hopefully it accurately models the plummetting quality of life and rampant homelessness created by doing what you describe in the real world.
treebeard901 1 hour ago | parent
deadbabe 1 hour ago | parent
nico 1 hour ago | parent
doginasuit 46 minutes ago | parent
sixothree 41 minutes ago | parent
Regardless, I don't think it would actually make the game more fun.
skinfaxi 37 minutes ago | parent
Why call out Americans like that? Do you think America is some homogenous entity?
thaumasiotes 32 minutes ago | parent
1. There are three resources: food, industrial production, and commercial activity;
2. As the player, you can divide commercial activity between three categories: research, state revenue, and local "luxuries", which in this context just means tax relief;
3. Scientific progress occurs when you've produced enough research to learn a new technology;
4. The only appearance of "education" anywhere in the game is that there is an expensive building called a "university" that increases local production of research. (The predecessor building with the same effect at a lower cost is the "library".)
On the other hand, "there is always division and infighting" is one of the most important and fundamental mechanics in the game; if your city grows beyond a quite small population cap, new citizens are automatically unhappy and will shut down the whole city unless pacified somehow.
whaleofatw2022 28 minutes ago | parent
mrhyyyyde 29 minutes ago | parent
TeMPOraL 24 minutes ago | parent
thekuanysh 5 minutes ago | parent