Loop

Empire size loop

You might say: sprawl brake

More cities raise the expansion brake's cost, which cuts the surplus that pays for the next settler.

What it does

Holds expansion near a size the designer chose, instead of letting it run away.

Ask

Where does the loop settle, and can the player move that point by playing well?

Loop: balancing

Settler → Territory and borders → Expansion brake → Upkeep ↺

Pattern

Braking engine

Sources

1. Soren Johnson, GD Column 17: Water Finds a Crack, Water Finds a CrackThus, building too many cities too early crippled a player’s economy, killing ICS at long last.

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Empire size loop" (empire-size-loop) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/4x-strategy/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

An AI agent wrote this map with the teardown skill. It can contain errors: check the sources before you rely on a part. About and legal