{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/education--family-24","type":"mechanic","id":"education--family-24","lang":"en","title":"Simulation and systems management","summary":"The learner manages interdependent model parameters. Changing one affects the system’s state and later decisions.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/education--family-24/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/education--family-24.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/education--family-24.md","aliases":["Simulation and system management"],"tags":["Educational games","Quantity, investigation and systems"],"sourceIds":["source-12394e8203bade5f"],"sources":[{"id":"source-12394e8203bade5f","title":"Wobbledogs","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1424330/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Manage an ecosystem"},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-24-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Manage an ecosystem <a id=\"family-24-variant-1\"></a>\n- Manage a farm or garden <a id=\"family-24-variant-2\"></a>\n- Manage a transport network <a id=\"family-24-variant-3\"></a>\n- Manage a city <a id=\"family-24-variant-4\"></a>\n- Change physical-model parameters <a id=\"family-24-variant-5\"></a>\n- Manage a production chain <a id=\"family-24-variant-6\"></a>\n- Manage stocks and flows <a id=\"family-24-variant-7\"></a>\n- Balance system needs <a id=\"family-24-variant-8\"></a>\n- Observe long-term effects <a id=\"family-24-variant-9\"></a>\n- Compare models with reality <a id=\"family-24-variant-10\"></a>\n- Explore cycles and equilibria <a id=\"family-24-variant-11\"></a>\n- Manage delayed systems <a id=\"family-24-variant-12\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Balance water, plants and animals in a small pond."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A mechanic map for games with explicit learning goals, from first encounters with a topic to professional practice. It covers children, teenagers and adults; choose subject, difficulty, context and controls for the learner. Player actions, subject content, instructional support and assessment are distinct layers. Scores and game completion alone do not establish mastery or skill transfer."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"education","id":"family-24","title":"Educational games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-24","categoryIds":["systems"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Simulation and system management","description":"The learner manages interdependent model parameters. Changing one affects the system’s state and later decisions.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/general-wobbledogs-07.webp","width":1440,"height":809,"game":"Wobbledogs","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1424330/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1424330/ss_7c1d0feb4ba10ec0ac38869239c7e4f8f33fc456.1920x1080.jpg?t=1783596978","credit":"Animal Uprising / Secret Mode","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed screenshot from Steam; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"A pet’s condition connects feeding and rest","alt":"A pet’s condition connects feeding and rest","markers":[{"x":22,"y":88,"label":"Meters show the selected pet’s needs"},{"x":56,"y":63,"label":"A pet interacts with food"}]},"tips":["Explain the model’s limits and differences from the real system."],"examples":[{"title":"Wobbledogs","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1424330/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Educational reference expanded from all 64 families and 749 variants of the original children-education taxonomy, with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Sources support specific methods and examples, not the entire classification or its effectiveness.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/education"}}