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Kin (Life Simulation Game)

A life simulation built around a coherent economy: resources, prices, jobs and flows, and systems that react to player choices over long playthroughs.

Game design Economy systems Simulation WIP

How the project changed

Kin Dynasty development path

Estimated launch 31 Aug 2026
  1. Concept Original life sim idea
  2. Town map World becomes physical
  3. Core loop Simplifying the game
  4. Content pass Events, roles, polish
  5. Launch prep Final polish and testing
Retrospective 01

The first version tried to cover too much

I started with a broad medieval world and too many possible actions. The scope made each system thinner and left the main loop hard to read.

Retrospective 02

The town became the anchor

I replaced a list of actions with a town map. Locations gave work, trade and social encounters a place in the world.

Retrospective 03

I cut systems that blurred the loop

I kept the mechanics that gave players readable choices and removed features that added rules without changing play.

Current focus

Prepare the first public build

I am testing the early years, tightening feedback and fixing the points where players lose track of cause and effect.

A life told through connected systems

I design the game, its economy and the core loops. Characters earn wages, support households, move through jobs and spend time in a town where each location connects to the same underlying state.

The chronicle records births, work, health and family changes over time. I use it as player feedback and as a check that the simulation has carried each decision into the next year.

Kin game screen: character profile, stats, year, and chronicles event log
Life view: character resources and the chronicle that records each year.
Kin game screen: town map with locations and bottom navigation
Town map: locations turn work, trade and social actions into places.
Kin Kin tab: family tree style list with parents, spouse, children, and siblings
Kin view: household members, heirs and relationships share one family state.
Kin town location: tavern pop-up The Drunken Goat with people present on the map
A tavern visit shows which characters are present at that point in the simulation.
Kin Duty tab: job tiers from entry labor to guild leadership with requirements
Duty view: pay, class and skill requirements connect work to progression.
Diagram: Work and Duty, Households, Town and Market, and Time and chronicle with labeled flows
Economy map: work supplies wages, households hold budgets, the town creates spending and the chronicle records the result.

Make the first years clear and worth replaying

The core screens and economy now support a playable life across work, family and the town. I am using the launch pass to improve feedback, test balance and remove rules that do not create a visible consequence.

Later builds can add jobs and events on top of that foundation. The first release needs a smaller set of systems that players can read without a guide.