{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/shared-family-25","type":"mechanic","id":"shared-family-25","lang":"en","title":"Resources, exchange and economics","summary":"Players gather, transform and allocate limited resources, comparing their possible uses.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-25/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-25.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-25.md","aliases":["Resources, exchange and economy"],"tags":["Children’s games","Quantity, investigation and systems","Educational games"],"sourceIds":["source-fee3301bed8a96da"],"sources":[{"id":"source-fee3301bed8a96da","title":"Factorio","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Collect resources"},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-25-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Collect resources <a id=\"family-25-variant-1\"></a>\n- Transport and deliver items <a id=\"family-25-variant-2\"></a>\n- Allocate limited stock <a id=\"family-25-variant-3\"></a>\n- Buy and sell <a id=\"family-25-variant-4\"></a>\n- Calculate prices and change <a id=\"family-25-variant-5\"></a>\n- Exchange items <a id=\"family-25-variant-6\"></a>\n- Build a budget <a id=\"family-25-variant-7\"></a>\n- Save toward a goal <a id=\"family-25-variant-8\"></a>\n- Craft from recipes <a id=\"family-25-variant-9\"></a>\n- Account for opportunity cost <a id=\"family-25-variant-10\"></a>\n- Plan supplies <a id=\"family-25-variant-11\"></a>\n- Allocate resources fairly <a id=\"family-25-variant-12\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Buy meal ingredients within a budget."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"An action map for children’s digital, board, active and mixed games. An instructional goal is optional: children can invent stories, explore toys, compete or enjoy play itself. Select age suitability, reading demands, controls and pace separately; different implementations can suit different ages. Learning tasks and instructional support have their own reference."},{"id":"context-education","title":"Context: Educational games","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":"children","id":"family-25","title":"Children’s games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-25","categoryIds":["systems"]},{"catalogId":"education","id":"family-25","title":"Educational games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-25","categoryIds":["systems"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Resources, exchange and economy","description":"Players gather, transform and allocate limited resources, comparing their possible uses.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/factorio-copper-wire.webp","width":1224,"height":689,"game":"Factorio","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/427520/ss_37aa19e26e20e18a220fd8870dac6efb0e98b5f0.1920x1080.jpg?t=1787348817","credit":"Wube Software","rights":"© Wube Software. All rights reserved.","caption":"Copper plates become cable","alt":"Factorio: assembling machines take copper plates from one belt and deliver copper cable onto another.","markers":[{"x":29,"y":51,"label":"Input: copper plates on a belt"},{"x":53,"y":66,"label":"The machine converts its input"},{"x":74,"y":50,"label":"Output: cable for downstream consumers"}]},"tips":["Show the resource source, transformation and final consumer."],"examples":[{"title":"Factorio","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy, with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support specific examples, not the entire classification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/children"}}