Worthbound Expense Model

Worthbound Expense Model

Status

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

• 05-Economy/01-Economic-Model.md
• 05-Economy/02-Income-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 expenses work in Worthbound.

The expense model exists to answer:

• what kinds of expenses exist
• how expenses create pressure
• how expenses differ by archetype
• how expenses interact with income, events, debt, and protection
• how expenses delay or accelerate passive-income escape

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

• easy to understand
• visible in impact
• meaningful in tradeoff
• simple enough for mobile presentation
• strong enough to carry real pressure

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2. Core Expense Law

Worthbound must teach this truth:

Expenses determine how much of income actually matters.

A player may earn more and still feel weaker if obligations rise faster than structural strength.

This means expenses should feel:

• constant
• meaningful
• identity-shaping
• often more important than raw income in the short term

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3. Expense Categories

The MVP should use three core expense categories:

3.1 Fixed Expenses

Recurring baseline obligations paid most cycles.

Examples:

• housing
• utilities
• food
• transport
• recurring household burden
• debt payments
• insurance premiums

3.2 Event-Driven Expenses

Temporary or irregular costs created by events.

Examples:

• repair bill
• health cost
• emergency family expense
• temporary disruption cost
• legal or asset-loss cost

3.3 Optional Strategic Expenses

Costs chosen by the player for growth, protection, or relief.

Examples:

• buying protection
• purchasing an asset
• paying down debt faster
• upgrading an opportunity path

These three categories are enough for MVP.

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4. Core Expense Formula

The recommended baseline formula is:

Total Expenses = Fixed Expenses + Event-Driven Expenses

Optional strategic spending should usually be shown separately as chosen spending rather than hidden inside baseline expense pressure.

This preserves readability.

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5. Fixed Expenses Design

Fixed expenses are the heartbeat of pressure in Worthbound.

They should:

• be predictable enough to plan around
• differ clearly by archetype
• shape the player’s breathing room
• make the passive-income goal meaningful

Fixed expenses are one of the strongest counterweights to raw salary.

Archetype Relationship to Fixed Expenses

Skilled Worker

• lower-to-mid fixed expenses
• manageable overhead
• room for practical discipline

Professional

• moderate fixed expenses
• respectable but real household drag
• stable pressure

Corporate Climber

• high fixed expenses
• heavy status and structure drag
• high leakage risk

Entrepreneur

• flexible but unstable expense relationship
• moderate baseline with risk of uneven pressure

This contrast must remain strong.

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6. Event-Driven Expenses Design

Event-driven expenses create spikes of truth.

They should:

• test reserves
• expose underinsurance
• punish fragility
• create urgency without constant chaos

Event-driven expenses are important because they show the player:

• whether their economy is resilient
• whether they have enough cash
• whether protection mattered
• whether one bad cycle can destabilize the run

These costs should feel consequential, not random or unreadable.

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7. Optional Strategic Expenses Design

Optional spending is where the player expresses judgment.

These expenses should force tradeoffs between:

• relief now
• growth later
• safety now
• speed later
• liquidity now
• ownership later

Examples:

• pay for better protection now or save for asset purchase
• reduce debt now or keep cash for flexibility
• buy a small asset now or wait for a better opportunity

This keeps spending strategic rather than purely punitive.

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8. Expense Burden and Archetype Identity

Expenses are one of the main ways archetypes express identity.

Skilled Worker

Expense burden should feel manageable but dangerous when work continuity breaks.

Professional

Expense burden should feel stable enough to plan around, but large enough to absorb comfort-driven waste.

Corporate Climber

Expense burden should feel heavy, prestigious, and constantly ready to consume salary gains.

Entrepreneur

Expense burden should feel flexible enough to maneuver, but unstable enough to become painful during low-income periods.

If expenses do not change how archetypes feel, the expense model is too flat.

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9. Lifestyle Inflation Pressure

Lifestyle inflation is a key behavioral pressure in Worthbound.

It exists to teach that:

• more income can create more traps
• visible success often comes with invisible drag
• expense growth can quietly erase progress

Lifestyle inflation pressure should differ by archetype.

Suggested Pattern

• Skilled Worker: low
• Professional: medium
• Corporate Climber: very high
• Entrepreneur: medium, with situational spikes

The player should feel lifestyle pressure as temptation and creep, not just as a random punishment number.

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10. Expenses and Protection

Protection should interact with expenses in both obvious and subtle ways.

Obvious Interaction

Protection may reduce event-driven expenses directly.

Examples:

• lower health-event cost
• lower interruption cost
• lower asset-loss repair cost

Strategic Interaction

Protection adds a recurring cost now in exchange for:

• smaller future spikes
• better recovery odds
• preserved cash
• reduced collapse risk

This is one of the most important tradeoffs in the game.

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11. Expenses and the Win Condition

The MVP win condition is:

Passive Income >= Total Expenses

This means expense control is as important as passive-income growth.

A player may approach escape in two broad ways:

• grow passive income
• reduce or contain expense burden

The best runs will often do both.

This must remain visible in balancing and UI.

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12. Recommended MVP Derived Metrics

To keep expenses readable, use these simple derived metrics:

12.1 Total Expenses

Total Expenses = Fixed Expenses + Event-Driven Expenses

12.2 Fixed Burden Ratio

Recommended conceptual metric:

Fixed Burden Ratio = Fixed Expenses / Reliable Income

Interpretation:

• high ratio = player is structurally squeezed
• lower ratio = player has stronger breathing room

12.3 Freedom Gap

Freedom Gap = Total Expenses - Passive Income

This metric should remain central because it turns expense pressure into visible long-term progress tension.

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13. Expense Tension Design

The expense model should create tension between:

• comfort and progress
• protection and flexibility
• current lifestyle and future freedom
• visible success and structural strength
• surviving this cycle and escaping later

A strong expense model makes the player ask:

• “How much of my income is actually mine?”
• “Did I improve my life structure, or only increase my costs?”
• “Am I building breathing room or losing it?”

These are the right expense questions for Worthbound.

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14. MVP Tuning Priorities

When tuning the expense model, use this order:

First

Make fixed expenses matter immediately.

Second

Make archetype expense identity clear.

Third

Make event-driven spikes painful but survivable when prepared.

Fourth

Make protection feel like a meaningful tradeoff.

Fifth

Make lifestyle inflation a real danger without turning the game into constant punishment.

This order preserves clarity and identity.

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15. Failure Patterns Related to Expenses

The expense model should punish:

• allowing fixed costs to rise too fast
• pretending salary growth solved structural weakness
• staying underprotected to save small amounts now
• buying status before buying stability
• ignoring debt drag

These should feel like visible consequences of player choices.

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16. Success Patterns Related to Expenses

The expense model should reward:

• keeping overhead controlled
• protecting against severe spikes
• spending intentionally
• resisting lifestyle traps
• using lower expenses to build assets faster
• preserving breathing room

A player who manages expenses well should feel structurally stronger even before becoming richer.

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17. Working Summary

The Worthbound expense model is built around a simple truth:

• income creates possibility
• expenses decide how much of that possibility survives
• controlled overhead is one of the fastest paths to freedom

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