---
key: mechanic/economy-exchange--t096
type: mechanic
id: economy-exchange--t096
lang: en
title: Economic competition and interdependence
summary: >-
  Competitors contest limited opportunities, while specialization and exchange
  can make them mutually dependent.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/economy-exchange--t096/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/economy-exchange--t096.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/economy-exchange--t096.md
aliases:
  - Economic competition
tags:
  - Economy and exchange
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-96be186d8ada50a0
  - source-c5cfb02375225753
sources:
  - id: source-96be186d8ada50a0
    title: 'Factorio: Content'
    url: 'https://www.factorio.com/game/content'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-c5cfb02375225753
    title: Offworld Trading Company
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/271240/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: economy-exchange
    id: t096
    title: Economy and exchange
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/economy-exchange/#t096'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Economic competition
    description: >-
      Competitors contest limited opportunities, while specialization and
      exchange can make them mutually dependent.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/priority-offworld-trading-00.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      crop:
        x: 863
        'y': 0
        width: 577
        height: 563
      game: Offworld Trading Company
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/271240/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/271240/ss_fdb1d1301e763bd7cdbed153a2e83a2801bbdc67.1920x1080.jpg?t=1790866876
      credit: Mohawk Games / Stardock Entertainment
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Corporations compete for resources and market ownership
      alt: Corporations compete for resources and market ownership
      markers:
        - x: 92
          'y': 7
          label: One corporation’s share value
        - x: 92
          'y': 19
          label: A competing corporation’s share value
    tips:
      - Create competition over opportunities as well as accumulated wealth.
    examples:
      - title: Offworld Trading Company
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/271240/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on
  2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design
  examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests.
  Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not
  every proposed variant.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/economy-exchange
---
# Economic competition and interdependence

id: economy-exchange--t096
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/economy-exchange--t096
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/economy-exchange--t096/

Competitors contest limited opportunities, while specialization and exchange can make them mutually dependent.

## At a glance

![Corporations compete for resources and market ownership](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/priority-offworld-trading-00.webp)

[Offworld Trading Company](https://store.steampowered.com/app/271240/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. One corporation’s share value
2. A competing corporation’s share value

- Create competition over opportunities as well as accumulated wealth.

- [Offworld Trading Company](https://store.steampowered.com/app/271240/)

## How it works

Competitors contest limited opportunities, while specialization and exchange can make them mutually dependent.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t096-variants"></a>

- Shared sources limit total extraction. <a id="t096-v1"></a>
- Specialization improves a chosen product's output. <a id="t096-v2"></a>
- Supply agreements connect competitors' plans. <a id="t096-v3"></a>
- Substitutes offer escape from monopoly dependence. <a id="t096-v4"></a>

## Design example

Two companies contest ore but one produces engines for the other's vehicles.

Prototype check: Test whether a weaker participant can change niche or partner after a critical resource is captured.

## Context and limits

Economic rules connect production, allocation, commitments and exchange; prices should communicate scarcity and available alternatives. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.

- [Factorio: Content](https://www.factorio.com/game/content) (id: source-96be186d8ada50a0)
- [Offworld Trading Company](https://store.steampowered.com/app/271240/) (id: source-c5cfb02375225753)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors