Worthbound Income Model

Worthbound Income Model

Status

Canonical System File
Version: 0.1
Authority Level: System
Depends On:

• 05-Economy/01-Economic-Model.md
• 03-Archetypes/03-Archetype-Balance-Framework.md
• 09-Production/01-MVP-Scope.md

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1. Purpose

This file defines how income works in Worthbound.

The income model exists to answer:

• what kinds of income exist
• how income enters the cycle
• how income differs by archetype
• how income interacts with risk, protection, and progression
• how income supports or delays passive-income escape

For the mobile-first MVP, the income model must remain:

• clear
• archetype-sensitive
• strategically meaningful
• readable in short play sessions
• light enough to tune without bureaucratic complexity

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2. Core Income Law

Worthbound must teach this truth:

Income creates motion. It does not guarantee freedom.

The player can survive on income for a time.
The player only escapes dependence when passive income overtakes expenses.

This means income should feel:

• important
• motivating
• fragile in the wrong conditions
• insufficient on its own

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3. Income Categories

The MVP should use three core income categories:

3.1 Active Income

Income tied directly to the player’s current work pattern.

Examples:

• salary
• contract pay
• professional pay
• labor-based side work
• business/operator draw

3.2 Passive Income

Income generated by owned systems that do not require the same direct labor each cycle.

Examples:

• rental-style cashflow
• small business system income
• recurring investment yield
• asset-based recurring returns

3.3 Event Income

Non-recurring income triggered by events.

Examples:

• bonus
• tax refund
• unexpected payout
• temporary contract win
• windfall card

These categories are enough for MVP clarity.

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4. Total Income Formula

The recommended baseline formula is:

Total Income = Active Income + Passive Income + Event Income

For most cycles, Event Income will be zero.

This means the player’s reliable economy is built mostly on:

• active income
• passive income

Event Income should feel helpful or disruptive, but not foundational.

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5. Active Income Design

Active income is the player’s initial engine.

It should:

• reflect archetype identity
• feel meaningful early
• carry different stability and pressure patterns
• remain insufficient as a final answer

Archetype Relationship to Active Income

Skilled Worker

• modest but practical active income
• can be improved through hustle and reliable work
• sensitive to interruption

Professional

• stable active income
• supports planning and steady compounding
• risks creating comfort-based stagnation

Corporate Climber

• high active income
• creates large conversion potential
• paired with strong leakage pressure

Entrepreneur

• volatile active income
• can spike upward or dip painfully
• requires reserves and timing discipline

This asymmetry must remain visible.

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6. Passive Income Design

Passive income is the game’s long-term freedom engine.

It should:

• feel difficult to build early
• feel transformative once established
• become the clearest sign of real progress
• support the win condition directly

Passive income should be:

• more stable than active income in many cases
• more satisfying than raw salary growth
• tied to ownership choices, not random luck alone

Passive Income Sources in MVP

Keep the source set simple.

Recommended types:

• practical asset income
• rental-style asset income
• steady investment income
• business/system income

These should be enough for the first release.

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7. Event Income Design

Event income should add variation, not become the main progression engine.

It may:

• create relief
• create temptation
• create temporary acceleration
• mislead players into feeling stronger than they are

Event income is useful because it can test whether the player:

• spends immediately
• protects the gain
• saves strategically
• converts the gain into assets

This makes event income a behavioral test, not just a gift.

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8. Income Stability

Income stability is one of the main archetype differentiators.

Income stability affects:

• planning confidence
• reserve pressure
• opportunity timing
• value of protection
• recovery difficulty

Stability Design Rule

Higher stability should usually provide:

• easier planning
• smoother surplus management
• safer compounding

But it should often carry counterweights such as:

• comfort trap
• lower explosive upside
• slower urgency

Lower stability should usually provide:

• stronger upside windows
• more dynamic play
• more tension and variability

But it should often carry counterweights such as:

• reserve pressure
• protection dependence
• sharper collapse risk

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9. Income and Protection

Protection should interact with income in visible ways.

Examples:

• Income Protection may preserve part of active income after interruption
• Health Protection may reduce the chance that a health event destroys work continuity
• Asset Protection may preserve passive-income-producing assets from severe loss

This is important because it teaches:

• income can be fragile
• protection is not a side bill
• preserved income is strategically different from merely high income

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10. Income and Archetype Identity

The income model must reinforce each archetype’s identity.

Skilled Worker

Income should feel earned, practical, and interruption-sensitive.

Professional

Income should feel stable, respectable, and easy to misuse through comfort.

Corporate Climber

Income should feel large, powerful, and always under threat from expense growth.

Entrepreneur

Income should feel unstable, opportunity-shaped, and capable of rapid swings.

If all archetypes experience income the same way, the tuning has failed.

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11. Income Growth in MVP

The MVP should keep income growth simple.

Recommended growth channels:

• event-based raises or bonuses
• archetype-linked improvements
• selected opportunities that increase active income
• passive income growth through assets

Avoid for MVP:

• deep career ladders
• large promotion trees
• overly granular raise systems
• complex tax bracket simulation

The player does not need a career simulator.
The player needs visible growth decisions.

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12. Income Tension Design

Income should create tension between:

• consuming now
• protecting now
• investing now
• saving for later
• chasing more income
• converting income into passive systems

A healthy income model makes the player ask:

• “Should I use this cash to stabilize, grow, or protect?”
• “Am I stronger, or just temporarily richer?”
• “Did this income change my structure, or only my mood?”

These are the right questions for Worthbound.

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13. Recommended MVP Derived Metrics

To keep the income system readable, use these simple derived metrics:

13.1 Total Income

Total Income = Active Income + Passive Income + Event Income

13.2 Reliable Income

Reliable Income = Active Income + Passive Income

This excludes one-time event spikes.

13.3 Income Dependence Ratio

Recommended conceptual measurement:

Income Dependence Ratio = Active Income / Total Income

Interpretation:

• high ratio = player is still heavily labor-dependent
• lower ratio = more ownership-based resilience

This can be surfaced internally or later in UX if it helps clarity.

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14. MVP Tuning Priorities

When tuning the income model, use this order:

First

Make active income feel useful but insufficient.

Second

Make passive income feel difficult early and powerful later.

Third

Make archetype income identity visible early.

Fourth

Make protection visibly interact with income stability.

Fifth

Make event income interesting without letting it dominate progression.

This preserves the core lesson.

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15. Failure Patterns Related to Income

The income model should punish:

• confusing high income with real strength
• relying on unstable income with no buffer
• refusing to convert active income into passive systems
• spending spikes in event income as if they were permanent

These should feel like understandable mistakes.

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16. Success Patterns Related to Income

The income model should reward:

• using salary as a launch platform
• protecting fragile income streams
• respecting liquidity
• converting income into ownership
• building stable passive income
• reducing dependence on labor over time

This is the arc from survival to escape.

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17. Working Summary

The Worthbound income model is built around a simple truth:

• active income keeps the player alive
• passive income makes the player free
• event income tests judgment

That is how income should work in the mobile-first MVP.