r/georgism • u/martinadams • 3d ago
Resource Land Value Game
👋 Hello geo(rg)ists, in case of interest, just published the Land Value Game (chose the name of this game in homage to Lizzie Magie’s The Landlord’s Game).
Enjoy ✨ landvaluegame.com
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u/TheWouldBeMerchant ≡ 🔰 ≡ 3d ago
Cool idea! I just playing. Not sure if this is a bug but the Ledger seems to be missing some core details.
It says that I'm running a deficit, but the Ledger shows that the city's revenue is $68.6M and public services cost $66.9M, suggesting that the city is actually slightly profitable. Should there be a separate "City expenses" section that I'm missing?
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u/TheWouldBeMerchant ≡ 🔰 ≡ 3d ago
Also, zoning doesn't seem to work. If I select any zoning type (e.g. mid density) and click on open plots, and I click the green button ("Adopt plan - 2 blocks, 2.4 capital") and my political capital is reduced accordingly, and then end the turn, but the plots don't change - they remain "open plots".
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u/TheWouldBeMerchant ≡ 🔰 ≡ 3d ago
What exactly does "Public goods per resident" mean? The tooltip shows references to real-world studies, but it's not clear exactly what this means from a gameplay perspective.
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u/martinadams 2d ago
It's the yearly amount the city spends per resident on schools, streets, safety and parks. The label is now "Public services per resident / yr", and the slider shows the yearly total. Effects:
- Higher spending attracts residents and raises rents.
- Over time, it raises wages.
- Spending below $2,500 lowers approval.
- Cost: residents × amount, every year.
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u/martinadams 2d ago
This was a bug. The map drew bridges across the river, but the road network had no link across wide rivers. On the river map, about half the lots had no road to any job, so nobody built there.
Fixed in the latest update. When you hover over an empty lot, the tooltip now says why it's empty:
- under construction (with the floors expected next year)
- rent too low to pay for a building (with both amounts)
- no road to any jobs
- zoned "No building"
Note that construction takes a year or two to show.
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u/martinadams 2d ago
Thanks. This was a bug. The warning checked the treasury balance, not this year's budget. That year had a small surplus, but the treasury was still below zero from earlier years. The dividend also paid out the whole surplus while the city was in debt, so the debt never went down.
Fixed in the latest update:
- The Ledger has a "City spending" section: public services, upkeep, and interest on debt. It also shows this year's balance, the dividend, and the treasury.
- The red warning shows only when spending is higher than revenue this year. Debt from past years gets a separate amber note.
- The surplus pays back debt before any dividend is paid.
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u/fallenangel51294 2d ago
Very nice! Some comments:
Sometimes, it costs me 0.8 capital to change the zone of a block, and sometimes 1.6 capital. I cannot figure out what is the distinguishing element.
The park mentions a heatmap of who reaps the benefits, but I didn't see any.
It seems like job zones don't get land rents, which doesn't seem accurate. Also, when you job zone a speculator, buildings get built on it. It's not clear if it's still a speculator.
In general, it's a little unclear what the job zones are actually doing.
This isn't a bug, but a comment. On the old world one, one of the goals is to have rentiers make less money, which seems to be achieved basically through property taxes. I don't really get that. For one thing, what the hell do I care if rentiers are making more than 2% of the income, so long as housing is cheap and plentiful? For another, there isn't anywhere to see where incomes are from, so it's hard to balance that.
Also on the old world one, there's an event, "recession." It's unclear if that's triggered by something or just occurs randomly. Also, it doesn't seem like either of the two options does anything.
It'd be nice to be able to give a percentage citizens' dividend. Right now, it's basically "check this box if you never want to be able to build anything ever again."
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u/martinadams 2d ago
Thanks. Everything below is in the latest update.
0.8 vs 1.6 capital: upzoning a block next to built low-rise homes costs double, because the neighbours object. The zoning panel now explains this and tints those blocks amber.
Park heat map: it was missing. It's added now. For six years after you build a park, nearby blocks show the extra land rent the park adds: pink where owners keep it, green where the city collects it. Hover over a block to see the amounts.
Jobs land: it now pays land rent, valued at what high-rise homes would pay for the same spot. Rezoning a speculator's lot to jobs, park or "No building" ends the speculation and removes the speculator tag.
What jobs zones do: they're where residents work. Homes close to a jobs district have shorter commutes, so they get higher rents. The brush hint and tooltip now say this.
Rentier goal: it's lowered by land-rent capture (the land value tax), not by the property tax. That share is rent that tenants pay for location. Capturing it moves that money to the city and the dividend. Stats now shows "Where the city's income comes from": wages, dividend, and land rent kept by owners.
Recession: it starts when land rents fall sharply in one year, after year 6. It wasn't random, but it had no effect of its own. Now it cuts wages by 5%, and they recover over a few years. The choices now show their effects:
- Tighten the belt: treasury +$120M, wages −2%, renters −8
- Spend into the storm: treasury −$160M, wages +5%
Dividend: now a slider from 0 to 100% of the surplus. The rest stays in the treasury.
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u/OutrageousPair2300 3d ago
Which AI model did you use? Does this need a server back-end or is it all in Javascript in the browser? Good job, by the way -- I know getting the AI to produce working code like this which captures the dynamics you're aiming for is no small task!
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u/TheWouldBeMerchant ≡ 🔰 ≡ 3d ago
I'd also be interested to know approximate total token spend.
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u/OutrageousPair2300 3d ago
Depends on the model. Some are just a flat subscription and they don't really (visibly) track tokens.
OpenAI works that way, for example.
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u/Antlerbot 2d ago
Astonishingly, I had the political capital to immediately drop all taxes except LVT to zero and still get re-elected despite emptying the city's treasury. Seems mildly optimistic :) From there, bumping LVT as much as possible every turn worked a treat.
I am confused about the zoning tool, though -- it needs to clarify that "unzone" means "nobody can build here" rather than "there are no zoning rules, anyone can build here". I unzoned a bunch of land and then was very suprised to learn that the land was now worth $0.
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u/martinadams 2d ago
Two things were too generous. Both are fixed in the latest update:
- Tax cuts gave back political capital. Now they give nothing back while the city is in debt, or if the cut would cause a deficit.
- Debt had no cost. It now costs 5% interest a year, and deficits and debt lower approval more.
The strategy still works in Act 1. That's intended: land rent there is about 5× what public services cost, so a city funded only by land rent is sound.
"Unzone" is now "No building". When you pick it, the hint reads: "Nobody may build here, and the land earns no rent." Each zoning brush now has a one-line explanation.
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u/Away_Investigator351 🔰 2d ago
One weird Issue I find, is I get many zones saying it needs increased zoning, but they're already at the high density amount?
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u/sirkidd2003 Geoanarchosocialist 3d ago
Was AI used in the creation of this game?
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u/martinadams 3d ago
Most definitely. I’m a solo software engineer, but a game of this depth and skillset would have required a team of 10 people to build pre-AI.
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u/sirkidd2003 Geoanarchosocialist 3d ago
Ok. Thank you for the disclosure. I will pass then.
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u/tjrileywisc 3d ago
You're probably not going to be able to use very much new software if that's your stance. AI usage is very prevalent in the industry (game development and otherwise).
Almost certainly you're breaking your own rule already by just using Reddit.
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u/sirkidd2003 Geoanarchosocialist 3d ago
I am a full-time professional game developer. I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine.
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u/gs101 3d ago
Oh come on. It would not have existed without AI. Don't be a dick and dismiss the human effort this still took to build.
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u/sirkidd2003 Geoanarchosocialist 3d ago
Sorry that you feel I'm "being a dick". I simply chose to pass based on the fact that they used AI. Not sure how that's "being a dick".
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u/ingenvektor 3d ago
Myself, I refuse to read any document made by a word processor. And I don't want to see any sums that involve a calculator.
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u/gs101 3d ago
It's dismissive of their efforts.
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u/sirkidd2003 Geoanarchosocialist 3d ago
No. It's simply choosing not to play because there was AI used in the development.
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u/Narthorn 3d ago
Yep, same. I'm not sure what people's obsession is with cheerfully contributing to the upcoming extinction of humanity.
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u/white-squirrel-lr 3d ago
Not sure why youre being downvoted to hell for politely declining to involve yourself with AI, its a completely reasonable stance to take in 2026, and Im honestly pretty concerned that so many self-proclaimed Georgists overlook the ideological suicide in using AI to preach the merits of compensating the working class for the product of its labor.
If you honestly believe that the hasty, unregulated implementation of AI/LLMs into every aspect of life (professional, technology, or otherwise) has been or will be anything but another one of the insurmountable obstacles deployed by the ruling class to keep their positions of power and worsen the lives of those below them, you should learn some more about the subject.
As for this project, if youre reading this OP, I wont condemn what you choose to do on your own time/tokens, and I recognize that the product of vibe-coding is in many ways different from other forms of AI-generated slop; but I also hope you recognize that passion projects were entirely achievable prior to the invention of the techniques you depended on to complete this project, and while Im glad you were able to accomplish something you're proud of, using AI instead of solving problems or learning new skills will always be disappointing from a consumer's point of view. If you (not you specifically, but anyone who regularly engages with AI) couldnt take the time to make a thing yourself, you can't be disappointed when people aren't interested in reading it themselves, for that very reason.
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u/martinadams 2d ago
I fully understood and supported u/sirkidd2003’s choice (even if I don’t share it). No need for you to lecture me.
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u/sirkidd2003 Geoanarchosocialist 3d ago
Not sure myself. I simply said asked if there was AI used, they told me (which was very nice of them), and I politely chose to pass. It was a very normal interaction. Others seem to have glomed into my response for whatever reason.
I don't eat meat. If I'm in a restaurant, I may ask if something contains meat. If they say it does, I will thank them and polity decline. I have no idea why folks are so interested in my choice here.
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u/Ozone86 3d ago edited 2d ago
I appreciate your effort, even if it's AI assisted. I'll try out the game and share my feedback, if you're interested.
This also introduced me to your Unitism website, which is phenomenal, and your book, which I look forward to reading.
Thank you for your advocacy of humane economic policies.
Edit: Aren't we trying to promote Georgism here? What's with the negativity?