Mechanic · resources & economy · incremental game

Linear cost scaling

Each purchase raises the next price by a fixed amount, so prices grow in a straight line.

stubAlso: linear cost growth, linear prices, arithmetic cost scalingUpdated 2026-10-21
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With linear cost scaling, each purchase adds a fixed step to the next price, b+s⋅n, where exponential scaling multiplies it. A Dark Room prices huts at 100+50n wood1 and traps at 10+10n wood2. The build action refuses past the maximum, so the cap ends each run, not the price3.

  • CappedA Dark Room (2013). Huts 100 + 50n wood (max 20), traps 10 + 10n (max 10).1,2,3,4

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Mentioned in

Games

GameYearHowNote
A Dark Room2013Cappedhuts 100 + 50n wood (max 20), traps 10 + 10n (max 10)
Every claim about this mechanic, by game (4)
A Dark Room 2013A hut costs 100+50n wood, with n already built, up to 20 huts (11,500 wood for all 20).Verified
A trap costs 10+10n wood, and at most 10 can be built.Verified
The build action does nothing at the item's maximum count, so the cap, not the price, ends each building's run.Code
Each hut adds room for 4 villagers; the maximum population is huts × 4.Code

References

  1. ^ abA hut costs 100+50n wood, with n already built, up to 20 huts (11,500 wood for all 20).Verifieddoublespeakgames/adarkroom
    How we know
    54					'wood': 100 + (n * 50)
    script/room.js lines 43–58 at 1fada46 · upstream ↗

    Measured by a script. It fails if the result disagrees with the claim.

    The numbers come from the run; its author, an AI model, checked the script measures what the claim says, 2026-10-20.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-27.

    In the claim ledger

  2. ^ abA trap costs 10+10n wood, and at most 10 can be built.Verifieddoublespeakgames/adarkroom
    How we know
    24					'wood': 10 + (n * 10)
    script/room.js lines 13–28 at 1fada46 · upstream ↗

    Measured by a script. It fails if the result disagrees with the claim.

    The numbers come from the run; its author, an AI model, checked the script measures what the claim says, 2026-10-20.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-27.

    In the claim ledger

  3. ^ abThe build action does nothing at the item's maximum count, so the cap, not the price, ends each building's run.Codedoublespeakgames/adarkroom
    How we know
    1025		if (craftable.maximum <= numThings) {
    script/room.js lines 1025–1027 at 1fada46 · upstream ↗

    Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-20.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-27.

    In the claim ledger

  4. ^Each hut adds room for 4 villagers; the maximum population is huts × 4.Codedoublespeakgames/adarkroom
    How we know
    178		return $SM.get('game.buildings["hut"]', true) * Outside._HUT_ROOM;
    script/outside.js lines 177–179 at 1fada46 · upstream ↗
    11	_HUT_ROOM: 4,
    script/outside.js line 11 at 1fada46 · upstream ↗

    Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-20.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-27.

    In the claim ledger

Sources

Code