Worthbound Risk Taxonomy
Worthbound Risk Taxonomy
Section titled “Worthbound Risk Taxonomy”Status
Section titled “Status”Canonical System File
Version: 0.1
Authority Level: System
Depends On:
05-Economy/01-Economic-Model.md05-Economy/05-Risk-Return-Framework.md03-Archetypes/03-Archetype-Balance-Framework.md09-Production/01-MVP-Scope.md
1. Purpose
Section titled “1. Purpose”This file defines the official risk taxonomy of Worthbound.
The risk taxonomy exists to answer:
- what kinds of risk matter in the game
- how risk differs from archetype to archetype
- how risk enters the player loop
- how protection interacts with risk
- how risk supports the game’s teaching-through-consequence design
For the mobile-first MVP, the risk system must remain:
- understandable
- emotionally legible
- strategically meaningful
- compact enough for mobile
- strong enough to make protection matter
2. Core Risk Law
Section titled “2. Core Risk Law”Worthbound must teach this truth:
Financial progress is fragile when risk is ignored, underpriced, or misunderstood.
Risk is not just “bad things happening.” Risk is the set of conditions that can:
- erase progress
- delay escape
- amplify expense pressure
- expose weak planning
- punish false confidence
Risk therefore exists to reveal structural truth.
3. What Risk Means in Worthbound
Section titled “3. What Risk Means in Worthbound”In Worthbound, risk is any factor that can weaken the player’s financial structure.
A risk may affect:
- income continuity
- expense pressure
- assets
- debt burden
- liquidity
- opportunity timing
- recovery ability
A player with weak protection, low cash, and high obligations experiences the same event differently from a prepared player.
That difference is central to the game.
4. The Core Risk Families
Section titled “4. The Core Risk Families”For MVP, Worthbound should use six major risk families:
- Income Risk
- Health Risk
- Asset Risk
- Expense Spike Risk
- Opportunity Risk
- Lifestyle Risk
These six are enough to create meaningful financial tension without overcomplicating the first release.
5. Income Risk
Section titled “5. Income Risk”Definition
Section titled “Definition”The risk that the player’s active income is interrupted, reduced, delayed, or destabilized.
Common Causes
Section titled “Common Causes”- layoff
- reduced hours
- work interruption
- client loss
- poor business cycle
- performance setback
Why It Matters
Section titled “Why It Matters”Income risk is one of the strongest threats to salary-dependent players.
Most Affected Archetypes
Section titled “Most Affected Archetypes”- Skilled Worker
- Entrepreneur
- Corporate Climber
Protection Interaction
Section titled “Protection Interaction”Income Protection should reduce the severity of this risk.
6. Health Risk
Section titled “6. Health Risk”Definition
Section titled “Definition”The risk that a health-related issue creates direct financial damage or indirect work disruption.
Common Causes
Section titled “Common Causes”- injury
- illness
- medical bill
- temporary reduced capacity
Why It Matters
Section titled “Why It Matters”Health risk can strike both income and expenses at once.
Most Affected Archetypes
Section titled “Most Affected Archetypes”- Skilled Worker
- Service Worker
- Entrepreneur
Protection Interaction
Section titled “Protection Interaction”Health Protection should reduce direct cost and preserve structural stability.
7. Asset Risk
Section titled “7. Asset Risk”Definition
Section titled “Definition”The risk that an owned asset is damaged, disrupted, underperforms, or stops producing expected value.
Common Causes
Section titled “Common Causes”- repair cost
- breakdown
- vacancy
- business disruption
- asset loss event
Why It Matters
Section titled “Why It Matters”Asset risk threatens the player’s path from income to ownership.
Most Affected Archetypes
Section titled “Most Affected Archetypes”- Skilled Worker
- Corporate Climber
- Entrepreneur
- Public Servant in later expansion
Protection Interaction
Section titled “Protection Interaction”Asset Protection should reduce downside severity and recovery difficulty.
8. Expense Spike Risk
Section titled “8. Expense Spike Risk”Definition
Section titled “Definition”The risk that a temporary but meaningful extra cost suddenly reduces breathing room.
Common Causes
Section titled “Common Causes”- family emergency
- repair bill
- urgent payment
- regulatory or timing-related fee
- household disruption
Why It Matters
Section titled “Why It Matters”Expense spikes test reserves, protection, and structural slack.
Most Affected Archetypes
Section titled “Most Affected Archetypes”All archetypes, but especially:
- Service Worker
- Skilled Worker
- Entrepreneur
Protection Interaction
Section titled “Protection Interaction”Protection does not always remove these spikes, but it may reduce their severity.
9. Opportunity Risk
Section titled “9. Opportunity Risk”Definition
Section titled “Definition”The risk that a chosen opportunity underperforms, arrives at the wrong time, or creates more burden than benefit.
Common Causes
Section titled “Common Causes”- overpaying for upside
- weak timing
- insufficient reserves
- poor archetype fit
- bad risk stacking
Why It Matters
Section titled “Why It Matters”This is the risk of voluntary strategic action.
Most Affected Archetypes
Section titled “Most Affected Archetypes”- Corporate Climber
- Entrepreneur
- any archetype acting too aggressively
Protection Interaction
Section titled “Protection Interaction”Protection may make some opportunities more survivable, but it never removes judgment risk.
10. Lifestyle Risk
Section titled “10. Lifestyle Risk”Definition
Section titled “Definition”The risk that the player’s own behavior quietly increases fixed drag, weakens surplus, or undermines freedom.
Common Causes
Section titled “Common Causes”- status spending
- comfort spending
- inflationary habit creep
- overexpanding obligations
- mistaking income growth for actual strength
Why It Matters
Section titled “Why It Matters”This is one of Worthbound’s signature behavioral risks.
Most Affected Archetypes
Section titled “Most Affected Archetypes”- Corporate Climber
- Professional
- Entrepreneur during temporary success spikes
Protection Interaction
Section titled “Protection Interaction”Protection does not solve lifestyle risk directly. This risk is reduced mainly through discipline and design consequence.
11. Risk Severity Bands
Section titled “11. Risk Severity Bands”For MVP clarity, risk should be thought of in three broad severity bands:
Low Severity
Section titled “Low Severity”- survivable with modest cash
- limited structural damage
- recoverable quickly
Medium Severity
Section titled “Medium Severity”- painful
- may delay progress significantly
- requires real adaptation or buffer use
High Severity
Section titled “High Severity”- threatens major collapse
- may destroy momentum
- reveals whether the player built reserves and protection
These bands help tune both events and insurance value.
12. Risk Exposure by Archetype
Section titled “12. Risk Exposure by Archetype”Risk should not feel the same across all archetypes.
Skilled Worker
Section titled “Skilled Worker”- high income interruption sensitivity
- high health-linked vulnerability
- moderate asset vulnerability
- lower lifestyle risk
Professional
Section titled “Professional”- moderate disruption risk
- moderate health and expense spike vulnerability
- moderate lifestyle risk
- lower chaos but higher stagnation risk
Corporate Climber
Section titled “Corporate Climber”- moderate interruption risk
- high lifestyle risk
- high opportunity risk
- expensive downside when things go wrong
Entrepreneur
Section titled “Entrepreneur”- very high income volatility risk
- high opportunity risk
- high recovery risk
- strong reserve and protection dependence
Reserve Archetypes
Section titled “Reserve Archetypes”These should follow the same logic later:
- Service Worker = thin-margin survival risk
- Public Servant = lower chaos, higher complacency risk
13. Risk and Protection Law
Section titled “13. Risk and Protection Law”Protection exists because risk exists.
Risk and protection must be connected in visible ways:
- income risk should make income protection meaningful
- health risk should make health protection meaningful
- asset risk should make asset protection meaningful
If the player cannot feel this relationship, the risk model is underdesigned or the protection model is too weak.
14. Risk and Liquidity Law
Section titled “14. Risk and Liquidity Law”Liquidity changes risk.
The same event should feel:
- manageable with reserves
- dangerous with thin cash
- catastrophic with no buffer and no protection
This is why cash is not just money-in-hand. It is a risk absorber.
15. Risk and Recovery Law
Section titled “15. Risk and Recovery Law”Risk does not only determine how much damage an event causes. It also determines how hard it is to recover.
This means two players may take the same hit but experience different outcomes because of:
- cash reserves
- debt burden
- protection coverage
- expense load
- archetype pressure
This is what makes risk structurally interesting.
16. Failure Patterns Related to Risk
Section titled “16. Failure Patterns Related to Risk”The risk taxonomy should help expose these failure patterns:
- ignoring fragile income
- treating low-probability downside as irrelevant
- expanding too fast without buffer
- staying underprotected to save small amounts now
- carrying high fixed expenses with no margin
- assuming that good recent cycles mean low future risk
These should feel like understandable consequences.
17. Success Patterns Related to Risk
Section titled “17. Success Patterns Related to Risk”The risk taxonomy should reward:
- preparing before expanding
- holding cash intentionally
- buying the right protection at the right time
- matching opportunity size to current structure
- controlling lifestyle risk
- respecting archetype-specific fragility
Good players should feel that they are not avoiding all risk, but managing it intelligently.
18. Working Summary
Section titled “18. Working Summary”The Worthbound risk taxonomy is built around six core families:
- income risk
- health risk
- asset risk
- expense spike risk
- opportunity risk
- lifestyle risk
These risks exist to test whether the player has built:
- liquidity
- discipline
- protection
- structural resilience
That is how risk should work in the mobile-first MVP.