{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/deck-building--family-economy","type":"mechanic","id":"deck-building--family-economy","lang":"en","title":"Acquisition costs and economy","summary":"Buying, removing and otherwise changing cards compete for a shared resource. The player weighs a card’s benefit against the alternatives it costs.","updatedAt":"2026-10-21","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/deck-building--family-economy/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/deck-building--family-economy.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/deck-building--family-economy.md","aliases":["The cost of changing a deck"],"tags":["Deck building","Core rules"],"sourceIds":["source-913c57cc3395f4be","source-7f09c8a736762f4f"],"sources":[{"id":"source-913c57cc3395f4be","title":"Ascension · Stone Blade rules","url":"https://stoneblade.com/ascension/how-to-play/","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-7f09c8a736762f4f","title":"Slay the Spire","url":"https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"What the player pays to change the deck and what competes with this expense."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants and applications\n\n<a id=\"family-economy-variants\"></a>\n\n- Turn currency. Rule: Resource for purchases is produced by cards and usually expires at the end of the turn. <a id=\"variant-economy-01\"></a>\n- Persistent currency. Rule: Money is saved between turns or battles, allowing you to save for rare purchases. <a id=\"variant-economy-02\"></a>\n- Multiple currencies. Rule: Different cards or actions require different resources, limiting the interchangeability of purchases. <a id=\"variant-economy-03\"></a>\n- Buy limit. Rule: Even with sufficient resources, the player is limited to the number of purchases or receipts per turn. <a id=\"variant-economy-04\"></a>\n- Cost modifiers. Rule: Effects change the cost of the selected card, card category, or all subsequent purchases. <a id=\"variant-economy-05\"></a>\n- Debt. Rule: The player receives the advantage now and must pay it later or face restrictions before redemption. <a id=\"variant-economy-06\"></a>\n- Risk payment. Rule: Obtaining or upgrading a card requires health, increased threat, or accepting another dangerous condition. <a id=\"variant-economy-07\"></a>\n- Exchange. Rule: To get a new card you need to give away, remove or replace the existing one. <a id=\"variant-economy-08\"></a>\n- Service economy. Rule: Removing, copying, and modifying cards compete for resources with purchasing new cards. <a id=\"variant-economy-09\"></a>\n- Opportunity cost. Rule: The rules offer mutually exclusive choices, such as upgrading a card, restoring health, or receiving another reward. <a id=\"variant-economy-10\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"Design taxonomy of basic rules and options, including card operations and external systems. The number of entries is not a generally accepted classification of independent mechanics."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"deck-building","id":"family-economy","title":"Deck building","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/deck-building/#family-economy","categoryIds":["section-1"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-21","title":"The cost of changing a deck","description":"Buying, removing and otherwise changing cards compete for a shared resource. The player weighs a card’s benefit against the alternatives it costs.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/slay-the-spire-shop.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Slay the Spire","sourceUrl":"https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/","originalUrl":"https://www.megacrit.com/images/ss4.jpg","credit":"Mega Crit","rights":"© Mega Crit. All rights reserved.","caption":"Purchases and removal use the same gold","alt":"Slay the Spire: a shop offers cards, relics, potions and a paid card-removal service.","markers":[{"x":31,"y":3,"label":"The gold balance limits spending"},{"x":82,"y":75,"label":"Removing a card also costs gold"}]},"tips":["Show the complete price before confirming a change.","Balance the price against alternatives available at the same moment."],"examples":[{"title":"Slay the Spire","url":"https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/deck-building"}}