---
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
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
---
# Resources, exchange and economics

id: shared-family-25
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-25
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-25/

Players gather, transform and allocate limited resources, comparing their possible uses.

## At a glance

![Factorio: assembling machines take copper plates from one belt and deliver copper cable onto another.](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/factorio-copper-wire.webp)

[Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/) · © Wube Software. All rights reserved.

1. Input: copper plates on a belt
2. The machine converts its input
3. Output: cable for downstream consumers

- Show the resource source, transformation and final consumer.

- [Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/)

## How it works

Collect resources

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-25-branch-1"></a>

- Collect resources <a id="family-25-variant-1"></a>
- Transport and deliver items <a id="family-25-variant-2"></a>
- Allocate limited stock <a id="family-25-variant-3"></a>
- Buy and sell <a id="family-25-variant-4"></a>
- Calculate prices and change <a id="family-25-variant-5"></a>
- Exchange items <a id="family-25-variant-6"></a>
- Build a budget <a id="family-25-variant-7"></a>
- Save toward a goal <a id="family-25-variant-8"></a>
- Craft from recipes <a id="family-25-variant-9"></a>
- Account for opportunity cost <a id="family-25-variant-10"></a>
- Plan supplies <a id="family-25-variant-11"></a>
- Allocate resources fairly <a id="family-25-variant-12"></a>

## Design example

Buy meal ingredients within a budget.

## Context and limits

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.

## Context: Educational games

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

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.

- [Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/) (id: source-fee3301bed8a96da)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors