A game about learning trades, trading stories, and executing trades. Featuring autonomous AI agents with emergent behavior, hierarchical goal planning, resource memory, and civilization development.
- Solo Gameplay: Fully client-side simulation with autonomous pawns
- Autonomous Agents: Pawns with goals, memory, skills, and emergent specialization
- Tribe/Town/Traders: Three interacting civilization paths
- Hierarchical Goals: Complex goal decomposition with resource memory
- Crafting and Discovery: Autonomous invention system with quality and durability
- Occupation Emergence: Professional specialization from repeated behavior
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Run the server
npm run serve
# Open the game
# Navigate to http://localhost:3000/solo/index.htmlThe game is deployed on Netlify and updates automatically on every push to main.
/solo- Client-side game (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)/docs- Comprehensive documentation/architecture- Core design and behavior patterns/systems- Implemented gameplay systems/plans- Roadmaps and implementation plans/trees- Knowledge trees with prerequisites
/models- MongoDB schemas (optional, for multiplayer)/config- Configuration files/test- Unit tests
- Occupation & Economy Framework - Progression pacing and cross-triad interactions
- Knowledge Trees - Detailed prerequisite chains for skills, materials, tools, structures
- Invention System - Autonomous discovery mechanics
- Civilization Roadmap - Multi-branch progression plan
- Deployment Guide - How to deploy to Netlify
- Runtime: Node.js 22.0.0+
- Framework: Express.js (for local development server)
- Real-time: Socket.io (for multiplayer, optional)
- Database: MongoDB with Mongoose (optional)
- Module System: ES Modules
- Testing: Node.js built-in test runner
# Run unit tests
node --test solo/test/*.test.js- ES modules (
import/export) - No unnecessary semicolons
- ES6+ syntax (optional chaining, nullish coalescing)
- Guard clauses over nested conditionals
The solo game is deployed as a static site on Netlify. See NETLIFY_DEPLOY.md for detailed instructions.
- What's deployed: Client-side solo game, documentation, static assets
- Updates: Automatically on every push to
main - Perfect for: Solo gameplay, fast CDN delivery
The full Express server with Socket.io and MongoDB is deployed on Railway. See RAILWAY_DEPLOY.md for detailed instructions.
- What's deployed: Node.js server, multiplayer logic, MongoDB connection, Socket.io
- Updates: Automatically on every push to
main - Perfect for: Multiplayer features, persistent data, real-time communication
- Netlify - Solo game (free tier, fast CDN)
- Railway - Multiplayer server ($5/month free credit)
- MongoDB Atlas - Database (free M0 tier)
Trade © 2008 by Patrick Cuba is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- Days 1-7: Basic stone age competence
- Days 7-20: Professional specialization emerges
- Months 3-5: Mid-game technology (organized groups)
- Year 1: Full preindustrial city complexity
- Indirect Control: Set goals and priorities, not micromanagement
- Emergent Specialization: Occupations develop from behavior patterns
- Autonomous Execution: Pawns handle pathfinding, crafting, social interactions
- Brisk but Earned: Progression feels rewarding without grind
Stone age skills come easily. Technology brackets similar to Minecraft/Vintage Story, but grounded in realistic materials with no magic.