Game System Simulator (GSS)
Web-based tool for indie game devs — visually design, simulate, and balance game economies (idle/incremental). Define resources, producers, upgrades and watch production graphs over time. Export to JSON/CSV.
01 Details
About the Project
Game System Simulator (GSS) is a web-based tool for indie game developers who need to design and balance economic and progression systems for idle/tycoon/incremental games — without writing code.
Problem
Idle games often suffer from poorly balanced economies: players either get stuck or finish the game too quickly. Balancing an economy is an iterative process requiring repeated testing — and without a dedicated tool, this means hours of tweaking directly in game code.
Solution
GSS provides a visual interface where you define your entire game economy and watch it behave in real-time simulation. No code, just configure and test.
How It Works
- Define resources — basic currencies and materials (coins, gems, wood...)
- Create producers — buildings/generators with production rate, cost, and scaling formula (linear/exponential)
- Add upgrades — production multipliers, unlock conditions (producer level, resource amount, time)
- Set starting state — initial resource amounts
- Run simulation — test your economy over different time periods (1 hour, 24 hours, 7 days)
- Analyze graphs — Money vs Time and Production Rate visualizations for balancing decisions
- Export — configurations as JSON for game import, simulation results as CSV
Tech Stack
TypeScript for type-safe development, Chart.js for data visualization, Webpack for bundling. Includes Godot SDK and Unity SDK for direct game engine integration.
The tool is available on itch.io and actively developed.