Game Economy Design: Faucets & Sinks, Drop Rates, Progression Curves & Monetisation
Model the economy of a fictional mobile RPG: currency faucets and sinks and inflation, exponential vs polynomial XP curves with a chart, drop rates and pity timers, completing a gacha collection, crafting cost trees, gem-pack pricing, player segments with ARPPU and ARPDAU and a reward table balanced to a target time-to-level: 8 graded labs with synthetic data and a responsible-design view.
The first lesson is free — no account needed.
About this course
A game economy design course that models the economy of one fictional mobile RPG, Cindervale Tactics, in a spreadsheet, for game and economy designers, live-ops and product managers, game analysts and game design students. You add up the gold faucets and sinks per player per day and see how fast a pile inflates, build exponential and polynomial XP curves and find a player's level from total XP, calculate expected attempts, the chance of at least one drop and the effect of a pity timer, work out the expected pulls to complete a 12-hero gacha banner and its real-money cost, roll up a three-level crafting tree, compare gem packs by value per dollar, measure revenue share, ARPPU and ARPDAU by player segment, and balance a reward table to a target time-to-level. Synthetic data, with a responsible-design view on spending and odds disclosure. Not gambling advice. The first lab is free.
Lessons
- Faucets vs Sinks: Daily Currency Flow and InflationFree
- XP Curves: Exponential vs Polynomial Levels (with a Chart) Pro
- Drop Rates, Expected Attempts and Pity Timers Pro
- Gacha and Collections: Expected Pulls to Complete a Set Pro
- Crafting Cost Trees: Rolling Up Materials and Fees Pro
- Store Pricing: Gem Packs, Bonuses and Value per Dollar Pro
- Player Segments: Revenue Share, ARPPU and ARPDAU Pro
- Balancing a Reward Table to a Target Time-to-Level Pro