Components of the Game

Architectures

• An architecture (arch) is a host system type
• Examples include (amd64, arm64, armel, armhf, i386, mips, mipsel, powerpc, ppc64el, s390x, sparc)

Host Systems

• An host system (host) is an implementation of an architecture
• A host system will have a given amount of Storage, CPU, RAM, and Bandwitdh, and comes with an initial cost and an upkeep.
• Hosts can be bare-metal or cloud, and may also be virtual or containers existing within bare-metal or the cloud.
• There are various forms of cloud hosts as well.
• Hosts have a vendor associated.

Operating Systems

• An operating system (os) runs on a host
• Not all operating systems can run on all hosts
• Operating systems may have a vendor associated or not.

Platforms

• A platform (plats) consists of an an operating system running on a host of an architecture.
• Platforms must be deployed by a resource.

Languages

• Languages (lang) are unique ways to instruct platforms to do tasks
• Not all languages run on all operating systems or even similarly on various operating systems.

Capability

• Capabilities (cap) are key, they're what allow you to do things when implemented.
• Capabilities (or combinations of capabilities) unlock other capabilities
• Capabilities must be maintained by a resource.
• Capabilites can be made up of bundled packages or not.
• 'black box' is a special type of capability that comes from a vendor, usually with an implied platform requirement.
• Some capabilities genereate paper, others just enable other capabilities.

Implementations

• Implementations (imps) are a language-specific, instance of a capablity.
• Implementations must be added to a platform by a resource
• Implementations have a complexity score that must be maintained by a resource with a comparable score to not stop working.

Resources

• Resources can be either an automation or a human or a combination of both, automations can augment humans.

Automations

• An automation is just a capability (a sub-resource) that must be maintained by another resource, usually requiring fewer resources.

Humans

• Humans have capability complexity scores. Not having a high enough score means it'll take longer to instanciate a capability, as Research will need to be done.
• Humans come with an inital cost and an upkeep, automations are maintained like any other capability.
• Upkeep comes in the form of paper.
• Sales and Marketing Humans are a special kind of Human that will increase Users per Capability.

Research

• If no resource has a capability at the level required to instantiate something, they can either spend time (with the associated upkeep spend) to research it or you can acquire another Resource with that capability.
• Research will increase the capability score of that Human permanently. Humans with higher capabilities have higher upkeep requirements, and may leave you for greener pastures.

Culture

• Culture will affect how your capabilities are instantiated
• Some cultures are mutually exclusive with others.
• Cultures will decide which Humans and Automations you need to build an maintain Capabilities
• Examples include (arch/vendor/os/host : monoculture/polyculture, package culture, hero culture, crunch time, agile, waterfall, flat hiearchy, silos, cult/"family", open vs. closed florr plan, 9-5, rowe, remote or local, contractor culture, independent vs vc backed, hipster vs. new hotness, science lab, optimize-for-happiness, retalitory culture, outsource culture, etc)

Initial Conditions

• The game starts with one resource (you) with a random, but humble, set of capabilities. You must spend time Researching the capabilities you'd like to instantiate.
• You'll have 250,000 paper to buy Implementations and acquire Humans.

Turns

• Instantiations, Upkeep and Paper move around during Turns.
• If a capability gives you 10 paper/User you get that every turn for evey User.
• If a Human costs you 10,000 paper, that is deducted every turn
• If an Implementation has an upkeep of 100, it is deducted every turn.
• If an Implementation has an upkeep of 100, it is deducted every turn.
• 200 Turns can be considered roughly a year in game time.

Users

• These are the consumers that bring in Paper.
• There are several types of Users you can attract. Free, Paying, Enterprise, and Institutional.
• Each type brings in more Paper (e.g. Enterprise Users pay more than Paying Users.)

Endgame

• Use Paper to enlist Humans to instantiate capabilities for which the Users will give you Paper. Sounds pretty simple, right?
• Which Humans you can enlist will depend on your Culture, Capabilites, and how much Paper you offer them.
• Which Users give you paper will depend on which Capabilities you offer.