🎯 Purpose
This simulation demonstrates how the ability to create money (or resources) from nothing provides an unfair systemic advantage in competitive environments. It serves as an educational tool to illustrate economic inequality through a simple, understandable game.
🎮 Game Mechanics
Basic Rules:
- Each player starts with 10 chips
- Every round, all active players roll a 6-sided die
- The highest roller wins and takes chips from all other players
- Players are eliminated when they reach 0 chips
- Game ends when only one player remains
Escalating Stakes:
- Linear Mode: Rounds 1-99: 1 chip, 100-199: 2 chips, 200-299: 3 chips, etc.
- Exponential Mode: Rounds 1-99: 1 chip, 100-199: 2 chips, 200-299: 4 chips, 300-399: 8 chips, etc.
- Stakes represent how many chips the winner takes from each loser per round
💰 Money Printer Mode
When enabled, Player 1 receives special privileges that simulate the ability to create money:
- Bailout Mechanism: When Player 1 reaches 0 chips, they automatically receive 10 chips
- Limited Usage: Number of bailouts is configurable (1-20 per game)
- Per-Game Reset: Bailout count resets for each new game in the simulation
- Eventually Limited: Once bailouts are exhausted, Player 1 plays by normal rules
🔍 What to Observe
Fair Play Mode: Wins should be distributed roughly equally among all players (~16.7% each with 6 players).
Money Printer Mode: Player 1 should win significantly more often, with the advantage scaling based on the number of bailouts allowed.
⚙️ Settings Explained
Player Count (2-12):
More players make the simulation more realistic and dilute individual win percentages in fair play mode.
Simulation Count (10-1000):
Higher numbers provide more statistically significant results. 100+ simulations recommended for clear patterns.
Stakes Progression (Linear vs Exponential):
Controls how aggressively stakes increase to prevent infinite games when money printer mode creates stalemates.
Printer Bailouts (1-20):
Controls the power of the money printer. More bailouts = greater unfair advantage for Player 1.
🌍 Real-World Parallels
This simulation mirrors several real-world economic phenomena:
- Central Banking: Ability to create money supply
- Quantitative Easing: Creating money to bailout preferred entities
- Fiat Currency Systems: Unlimited money creation by authorities
- Corporate Bailouts: "Too big to fail" rescue mechanisms
- Credit Creation: Banks creating money through lending
📊 Technical Implementation
Randomness:
Uses JavaScript's Math.random() for dice rolls, ensuring fair probability distribution.
Timeout Prevention:
Escalating stakes prevent infinite games when money printer mode creates stalemates.
Data Aggregation:
Win counts accumulate across all completed simulations to show statistical patterns.
💡 Educational Takeaway
Even in a completely fair game based purely on chance, the ability to create resources from nothing (money printing) provides a decisive systemic advantage. This illustrates how monetary policy and resource creation mechanisms can fundamentally alter competitive outcomes in real economies.