---
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
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
---
# Simulation and systems management

id: education--family-24
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/education--family-24
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/education--family-24/

The learner manages interdependent model parameters. Changing one affects the system’s state and later decisions.

## At a glance

![A pet’s condition connects feeding and rest](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/general-wobbledogs-07.webp)

[Wobbledogs](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1424330/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed screenshot from Steam; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Meters show the selected pet’s needs
2. A pet interacts with food

- Explain the model’s limits and differences from the real system.

- [Wobbledogs](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1424330/)

## How it works

Manage an ecosystem

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-24-branch-1"></a>

- Manage an ecosystem <a id="family-24-variant-1"></a>
- Manage a farm or garden <a id="family-24-variant-2"></a>
- Manage a transport network <a id="family-24-variant-3"></a>
- Manage a city <a id="family-24-variant-4"></a>
- Change physical-model parameters <a id="family-24-variant-5"></a>
- Manage a production chain <a id="family-24-variant-6"></a>
- Manage stocks and flows <a id="family-24-variant-7"></a>
- Balance system needs <a id="family-24-variant-8"></a>
- Observe long-term effects <a id="family-24-variant-9"></a>
- Compare models with reality <a id="family-24-variant-10"></a>
- Explore cycles and equilibria <a id="family-24-variant-11"></a>
- Manage delayed systems <a id="family-24-variant-12"></a>

## Design example

Balance water, plants and animals in a small pond.

## Context and limits

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.

## Connected materials


## Sources and 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.

- [Wobbledogs](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1424330/) (id: source-12394e8203bade5f)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors