Game Economy Balancer
Model and balance in-game economies to prevent inflation and optimize retention
What You Can Do
You can model complex in-game economies by describing currency flows, progression curves, and monetization systems in natural language, then have Claude validate the math, simulate outcomes across player cohorts (free players, mid-tier spenders, whales), identify inflation breakpoints, and stress-test against exploits. This lets you iterate on balance rapidly without building spreadsheets, catching economy-breaking issues before they damage retention.
Features
map soft/hard currency acquisition, spending patterns, and sinks to spot inflation and scarcity imbalances
model how different player segments (free, spenders, whales) experience progression and monetization pressure
validate reward pacing against time-to-grind and identify paywalls that trigger churn
calculate pricing strategies, conversion funnels, and ARPU impact from economy changes
identify resource hoarding risks and design economy drains (cosmetics, upgrades, limited purchases) that maintain scarcity
stress-test economies against player exploits, power-leveling strategies, and edge cases
evaluate economy changes by running before/after simulations and quantifying retention impact
Example Output
Example 1: Currency Balance Check
Input: "Our game has soft currency earning 100 coins/hour, costs 5000 coins for mid-tier gear. Players grind 2 hours/day. Are we creating a paywall?"
Output:
- Soft currency earning: 100 coins/hour × 2 hours/day = 200 coins/day
- Mid-tier gear cost: 5,000 coins = 25 days of grinding
- Assessment: ✓ Acceptable. Add inflation sink (weekly cosmetics at 500 coins) to prevent hoarding after 30 days
- Monetization pressure: Moderate. Premium pass could accelerate to 15 days without feeling exploitative
Example 2: Monetization Funnel Simulation
Input: "100,000 DAU. Free-to-paid conversion 5%. Average spending $8. We're adding a $4.99 battle pass. Model impact."
Output:
- Current revenue: 100K × 5% × $8 = $40K/day
- Projected conversion w/ battle pass: +2-3% (target 7-8% paid rate)
- Projected new revenue: 100K × 7.5% × ($8 + $4.99 avg battle pass adoption 40%) = ~$51K/day
- Risk: ✓ Battle pass placement. Avoid making free progression feel punitive or conversion may plateau at 6%
Example 3: Inflation Breakpoint Detection
Input: "Economy data shows players hitting 100M soft currency by day 60. We have no sinks. What happens?"
Output:
- Current sink capacity: 0 (resource hoarding infinite)
- Breakpoint: ~day 50-60, when whales stop spending (progression too easy)
- Retention risk: High. Implement weekly cosmetics (2K currency), boss rushes (5K entry), transmog (10K/item)
- Projected sink demand: 60K/week currency drain = maintains 3-4 week progression pace for endgame players
What's Included
- SKILL.md: full instructions for economy modeling, currency flow mapping, and breakpoint analysis
- Economy Template: currency types, earning/spending rates, player cohort definitions, progression checkpoints
- Monetization Simulator: conversion funnel calculation, ARPU modeling, battle pass/cosmetic pricing frameworks
- Inflation Sink Checklist: resource drain mechanics, weekly/monthly cosmetic placement, transmog/respec costs
- Stress-Test Scenarios: edge cases for whales, free players, power-levelers, and exploit-prone economies
Who It's For
- Game Economy Designers — balancing progression, monetization, and player retention
- Free-to-Play Product Managers — modeling revenue impact and conversion funnels without alienating players
- Game Designers — validating reward curves and progression pacing during design iteration
- Live Ops Specialists — stress-testing economy changes and seasonal event pricing
- Indie Game Developers — designing sustainable economies on small budgets without economist consultants
Best For
- Currency system design and rebalancing (soft/hard currency split, earning rates, sinks)
- Progression curve validation (time-to-grind, paywall detection, endgame sustainability)
- Monetization strategy modeling (battle pass pricing, cosmetic economy, ARPU forecasting)
- Inflation breakpoint analysis (identifying when resource abundance kills engagement)
- Player cohort simulation (modeling free player, mid-tier, and whale experiences across economy changes)
- Exploit stress-testing (identifying power-leveling vulnerabilities and resource duplication risks)
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