idle/docs/gyms/tiny_sword/PROGRESSION.md

Tiny Sword — Progression Plan

Full progression design for a playable idle game, from first click to victory.

Overview

The game has 8 phases. Each phase is gated behind a goal. Completing the goal unlocks new buildings, buffs, or systems that accelerate progress toward the next phase.

The Devil Idol is visible from the start as a long-term goal — destroying it is the one-time win condition. Prestige loops make it asymptotically easier.

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Phase Table

Phase	Goal	Threshold	Unlocks
1	(none)	Start	Gold Mine (click only, no auto-production)
2	gold_total_30	30 total gold	Gold Clicker, Gold Dynamo, Summon Worker buffs
3	gold_total_1300	1,300 total gold	Farm building (food economy begins)
4	gold_total_13k	13,000 total gold	Forestry building (wood economy), Farm Dynamo, Forest Dynamo
5	gold_350k_wood_20k	350K gold + 20K wood	Prestige (Castle) + Research (Monastery)
6	gold_2M_food_200k_wood_200k	2M gold + 200K food + 200K wood	Alchemy Tower
7	(post-alchemy)	—	Alchemy buffs (spend mana stone / cognite / philosopher stone)
8	gold_50M_food_5M_wood_5M	50M gold + 5M food + 5M wood	Barracks + Devil Idol fight

Note

: Phase 7 has no dedicated goal — it unlocks implicitly when the Alchemy Tower is active and the player can craft alchemy resources. The Phase 8 goal only needs to be reachable after Alchemy buffs have been applied.

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Phase Details

Phase 1 — Start

State: Gold Mine is visible and unlocked, 0 owned, 0 workers. Action: Player clicks the Gold Mine to earn gold manually (1 gold / click, 0.2s cooldown). Exit: Accumulate 30 total gold → Phase 2.

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Phase 2 — First Automation

Goal: gold_total_30 (30 total gold)

Unlocks:

Buff	Kind	Cost	Effect	Max Level
Gold Clicker	MANUAL_CLICK_MULTIPLIER	Gold	×(1 + 1×level) click multiplier	4
Gold Dynamo	AUTO_PRODUCTION_MULTIPLIER	Food	×(1 + 1×level) auto prod	10
Summon Worker	RESOURCE_PURCHASE	Gold	Grants 1 worker	∞

Design note: Gold Dynamo costs food but Farm isn't unlocked until Phase 3. This is intentional — the buff is visible but unusable until food flows. It creates anticipation.

Exit: Buy Summon Worker (200 gold) → get 1 worker → buy first Gold Mine (1 worker) → auto-production begins at 20 gold/s. Accumulate 1,300 total gold → Phase 3.

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Phase 3 — Food Economy

Goal: gold_total_1300 (1,300 total gold)

Unlocks:

• Farm building — starts with 1 owned, produces 20 food/s, purchasable with workers

New loop: Gold → workers → more Gold Mines + more Farms. Food accumulates. Gold Dynamo (unlocked in Phase 2) now becomes purchasable with food, multiplying gold mine output.

Exit: Accumulate 13,000 total gold → Phase 4.

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Phase 4 — Wood Economy

Goal: gold_total_13k (13,000 total gold)

Unlocks:

• Forestry building — starts with 1 owned, produces 20 wood/s, purchasable with workers
• Farm Dynamo buff — AUTO_PRODUCTION_MULTIPLIER for Farm, costs food, max 10
• Forest Dynamo buff — AUTO_PRODUCTION_MULTIPLIER for Forestry, costs food, max 10

New loop: Wood flows alongside gold and food. Three parallel production lines scale independently.

Exit: Accumulate 350,000 gold + 20,000 wood → Phase 5.

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Phase 5 — Prestige + Research

Goal: gold_350k_wood_20k (350,000 total gold + 20,000 total wood)

Unlocks:

• Prestige panel at Castle becomes visible and interactive
• Research panel at Monastery becomes visible and interactive

Prestige System

Config Property	Value
Source basis	RUN_TOTAL (gold earned this run)
Formula	POWER, exponent 0.5, scale 1.0
Threshold	50,000 gold (per prestige point)
Rounding	FLOOR

First prestige estimate: At 350K gold → floor(sqrt(350000/50000)) = floor(sqrt(7)) = floor(2.64) = 2 ascension points. Second run: With prestige buffs applied and ~500K gold → floor(sqrt(10)) = 3 ascension points.

total_prestige_earned persists across resets — it's a strictly increasing counter that never resets. It feeds the prestige multiplier (base_multiplier + total_prestige_earned × multiplier_per_prestige).

Prestige Buff Graph (purchasable with ascension points):

Node	Cost	Prerequisites	Effect
Golden Touch	1 ascension	(none)	Gold Mine ×2 production
Fertile Grounds	2 ascension	Golden Touch	Farm ×2 production
Wood Touch	3 ascension	Fertile Grounds	Forestry ×2 production
Martial Prowess	5 ascension	Wood Touch	Barracks ×2 unit production (Phase 8)

Research System

Three research tracks at the Monastery:

Track	Linked Generator	XP Source
Gold Mine Research	Gold Mine	Gold production
Farm Research	Farm	Food production
Forestry Research	Forestry	Wood production

One track active at a time. XP scales with workers assigned to research (research_workers). Default: 0.01 XP per currency unit, 100 XP for level 1, ×1.5 growth per level, +0.1 multiplier per level.

Exit: Accumulate 2M gold + 200K food + 200K wood → Phase 6.

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Phase 6 — Alchemy Tower

Goal: gold_2M_food_200k_wood_200k (2,000,000 total gold + 200,000 food + 200,000 wood)

Unlocks:

• Alchemy Tower building — passively produces Magic Gold

Alchemy Tower Mechanics

• Cycles of base 5 seconds, producing 1 Magic Gold per cycle
• Cycle time grows ×1.2 per completed cycle
• Workers can be assigned (1 worker each, up to 10) for +10% speed each
• Workers assigned here are separate from research workers (spent from worker currency)

Crafting Recipes

Recipe	Input	Output
Mana Stone	10 Magic Gold	1 Mana Stone
Cognite	25 Magic Gold	1 Cognite
Philosopher Stone	10 Mana Stone + 10 Cognite	1 Philosopher Stone

Exit: Build up alchemy resources → Phase 7 (implicit).

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Phase 7 — Alchemy Buffs

Prerequisite: Alchemy Tower active, player can craft resources.

Three new buffs, purchasable with alchemy resources:

Buff	Cost Currency	Target	Effect	Max Level
Fertile Infusion	Mana Stone	Farm	×2 production per level	5
Sylvan Cognite	Cognite	Forestry	×2 production per level	5
Opus Magnum	Philosopher Stone	Gold Mine	×3 production per level	5

Added to the buff catalogue. Available via the existing buff purchase UI in each generator's panel.

Exit: Accumulate 50M gold + 5M food + 5M wood → Phase 8.

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Phase 8 — Devil Idol (Finale)

Goal: gold_50M_food_5M_wood_5M (50,000,000 total gold + 5,000,000 food + 5,000,000 wood)

Unlocks:

• Barracks building — produces Military Units (pure damage currency)
• Devil Idol becomes targetable

Barracks

Property	Value
Produces	unit currency
Purchase cost	Workers
Unlock goal	Phase 8 goal
Research track	Shares with ? or none (TBD)
Prestige buff	Martial Prowess (×2 unit production)

Devil Idol

Property	Value
Visible from	Start (always visible in world)
Targetable from	Phase 8
HP	1e12 (1,000,000,000,000) — defined in an exported resource
Damage mechanic	Click idol to spend 1 unit → deal 1 damage. Or "Send Army" button for bulk spend.
Win condition	HP ≤ 0 → victory signal (TBD: victory screen, credits, etc.)

Asymptotic Loop

Without prestige: defeating the idol would require 10^12 units, which with baseline production is essentially infinite.

With prestige: each loop applies Martial Prowess (+×2 per level) to Barracks production. A player with 5 ascension points in Martial Prowess produces ×32 units per cycle. As they earn more ascension points across runs, unit production scales multiplicatively, asymptotically reducing the "time to kill."

The idol HP never resets — it's persistent across prestige. Each prestige loop chips away at it.

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Currency Catalogue (Complete)

Currency	ID	Produced By	Used For
Gold	gold	Gold Mine	Buff purchases, worker generation
Worker	worker	Summon Worker buff	Purchasing generators, research assignment, alchemy workers
Food	food	Farm	Buff purchases
Wood	wood	Forestry	Goal requirements
Ascension	ascension	Prestige resets	Prestige buff graph
Magic Gold	magic_gold	Alchemy Tower	Crafting mana stones + cognite
Mana Stone	mana_stone	Craft (10 magic gold)	Crafting philosopher stones, Fertile Infusion buff
Cognite	cognite	Craft (25 magic gold)	Crafting philosopher stones, Sylvan Cognite buff
Philosopher Stone	philosoper_stone	Craft (10 mana + 10 cognite)	Opus Magnum buff
Unit	unit	Barracks	Devil Idol damage

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Buff Catalogue (Complete)

Buff	ID	Kind	Cost	Unlock Goal	Max Lvl	Target
Gold Clicker	gold_click_focus	CLICK_MULT	Gold	gold_total_30	4	Gold Mine
Gold Dynamo	gold_auto_flux	AUTO_MULT	Food	gold_total_30	10	Gold Mine
Summon Worker	summon_worker	RESOURCE	Gold	gold_total_30	∞	Worker
Farm Dynamo	farm_auto_flux	AUTO_MULT	Food	gold_total_13k	10	Farm
Forest Dynamo	forestry_auto_flux	AUTO_MULT	Food	gold_total_13k	10	Forestry
Fertile Infusion	(new)	AUTO_MULT	Mana Stone	(alchemy active)	5	Farm
Sylvan Cognite	(new)	AUTO_MULT	Cognite	(alchemy active)	5	Forestry
Opus Magnum	(new)	AUTO_MULT	Philo Stone	(alchemy active)	5	Gold Mine

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Goal Catalogue (Complete)

Goal ID	Requirements	Unlock Behavior	Phase
gold_total_30	30 gold	AUTOMATIC	2
gold_total_1300	1,300 gold	MANUAL	3
gold_total_13k	13,000 gold	MANUAL	4
gold_350k_wood_20k	350,000 gold + 20,000 wood	MANUAL	5
gold_2M_food_200k_wood_200k (new)	2M gold + 200K food + 200K wood	MANUAL	6
gold_50M_food_5M_wood_5M (new)	50M gold + 5M food + 5M wood	MANUAL	8

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Prestige Buff Graph (Complete)

					  Golden Touch (1pt)
							│
					  Fertile Grounds (2pt)
							│
					   Wood Touch (3pt)
							│
					 Martial Prowess (5pt)

Node	Cost	Prerequisites	Effect	Target
Golden Touch	1	none	×2 production	Gold Mine
Fertile Grounds	2	Golden Touch	×2 production	Farm
Wood Touch	3	Fertile Grounds	×2 production	Forestry
Martial Prowess	5	Wood Touch	×2 production	Barracks

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Buildings (Complete)

Building	Scene	Generates	Cost Currency	Unlock Goal
Gold Mine	gold_mine.tscn	Gold	Worker	(none)
Farm	farm.tscn	Food	Worker	gold_total_1300
Forestry	forestry.tscn	Wood	Worker	gold_total_13k
Monastery	monastery.tscn	(none — Research UI)	—	gold_350k_wood_20k (panel visible)
Castle	castle.tscn	(none — Prestige UI)	—	gold_350k_wood_20k (panel visible)
Alchemy Tower	alchemy_tower.tscn	Magic Gold	—	gold_2M_food_200k_wood_200k (new)
Barracks	barracks.tscn (new)	Unit	Worker	gold_50M_food_5M_wood_5M (new)
Devil Idol	devil_idol.tscn (new)	(none — damage sink)	—	gold_50M_food_5M_wood_5M (targetable)

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Implementation Checklist

Phase 1–2 (already exists)

• Gold Mine building + generator
• Gold Clicker, Gold Dynamo, Summon Worker buffs
• gold_total_30 goal

Phase 3–4 (already exists)

• Farm building + generator
• gold_total_1300 goal
• Forestry building + generator
• Farm Dynamo, Forest Dynamo buffs
• gold_total_13k goal

Phase 5 — Prestige + Research Visibility

• castle.gd: Uncomment _prestige_panel.visible = true, gate behind gold_350k_wood_20k goal completion
• primary_prestige.tres: Tune basis → RUN_TOTAL, source → "gold", threshold → 50,000, exponent → 0.5
• monastery.gd: Gate _research_panel.visible behind gold_350k_wood_20k goal completion
• prestige_buff_catalogue.tres: Add Wood Touch + Martial Prowess nodes
• gold_350k_wood_20k goal (already exists)

Phase 6 — Alchemy Tower Gating

• New goal .tres: gold_2M_food_200k_wood_200k
• ts_goal_catalogue.tres: Register new goal
• alchemy_tower_data.tres or alchemy_tower.tscn: Add unlock_goal field
• Wire unlock to Alchemy Tower visibility

Phase 7 — Alchemy Buffs

• New buff .tres: Fertile Infusion (mana stone → farm, ×2, max 5)
• New buff .tres: Sylvan Cognite (cognite → forestry, ×2, max 5)
• New buff .tres: Opus Magnum (philosopher stone → gold mine, ×3, max 5)
• ts_buff_catalogue.tres: Register the 3 new buffs

Phase 8 — Barracks + Devil Idol

• New goal .tres: gold_50M_food_5M_wood_5M
• ts_goal_catalogue.tres: Register new goal
• New currency .tres: Unit (unit)
• ts_currency_catalogue.tres: Register unit currency
• New generator data .tres: barracks_generator.tres
• New scene: barracks.tscn (NG2D, sprite, Area2D, CurrencyGenerator, GeneratorContainer)
• New scene: devil_idol.tscn (NG2D, sprite, Area2D, click handler, HP display, win logic)
• New prestige buff .tres: Martial Prowess (×2 barracks production, cost 5 ascension, parent: Wood Touch)
• prestige_buff_catalogue.tres: Register Martial Prowess
• tiny_sword.tscn: Place Barracks + Devil Idol in world
• Victory condition handling (TBD: signal, screen, save state)

Research (Phase 5+, already functional)

• ResearchData for Gold Mine, Farm, Forestry
• ResearchPanel at Monastery
• ResearchRow UI
• XP generation in CurrencyGenerator
• (optional): Add Barracks research track
• (optional): Tune per-track values (XP required, multiplier growth)

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File Map

docs/gyms/tiny_sword/
├── PROGRESSION.md                          ← this file
├── tiny_sword.tscn                         ← main scene (add Barracks + Devil Idol)
│
├── currencies/
│   ├── ts_currency_catalogue.tres          ← register "unit" currency
│   └── unit.tres                           ← NEW: unit currency definition
│
├── buffs/
│   ├── ts_buff_catalogue.tres              ← register alchemy buffs
│   ├── fertile_infusion_buff.tres          ← NEW
│   ├── sylvan_cognite_buff.tres            ← NEW
│   └── opus_magnum_buff.tres               ← NEW
│
├── goals/
│   ├── ts_goal_catalogue.tres              ← register new phase 6 + 8 goals
│   ├── gold_2M_food_200k_wood_200k.tres    ← NEW
│   └── gold_50M_food_5M_wood_5M.tres      ← NEW
│
├── prestige/
│   ├── primary_prestige.tres               ← tune: RUN_TOTAL, gold, 50K threshold
│   ├── prestige_buff_catalogue.tres        ← register Wood Touch + Martial Prowess
│   ├── prestige_buff_wood_boost.tres       ← existing (may need cost/parent update)
│   └── prestige_buff_barracks_boost.tres   ← NEW
│
├── buildings/
│   ├── barracks/                           ← NEW
│   │   ├── barracks.tscn
│   │   └── barracks_generator.tres
│   ├── devil_idol/                         ← NEW
│   │   └── devil_idol.tscn
│   └── ... (existing buildings)
│
└── research/
	└── ts_research_catalogue.tres          ← (optional) add barracks research