big-pharma game sourced
Big Pharma
A pharmaceutical factory and business sim in which the player routes ingredients through machines on conveyor belts to push their concentration into the range that activates cures while suppressing side effects, then sells into contested markets.
parts
10 mechanics, as Big Pharma does themcore · 4
Conveyor transport
Conveyor belts move materials between machines from intake ports to output ports, and machine order along the belt sets the recipe.
Product development
Each finished drug gets a letter grade from its cure strength, side effects, and market demand, and the player names and prices it.
Production chains
Machines raise or lower an ingredient's concentration, combine materials, or transform effects; each effect is active only inside its concentration window on a 0 to 20 scale.
Rival firms
Rival companies release competing drugs that saturate a disease's market and cut demand for the player's product.
supporting · 6
Building placement
Machines are placed on a fixed factory floor where space limits line length.
Pause and speed control
Scenario objectives
Scenarios set targets such as a financial milestone within a set number of years, at several difficulties.
Scouting knowledge
Explorers search for new ingredients, and analysis machines reveal an ingredient's effects and maximum potency.
Supply-demand pricing
Price and sales for each cure depend on demand and how crowded its market is.
Tech tree
A research tree unlocks better machines and other benefits.
core loop
import an ingredient -> route it through machines that change its concentration -> activate cures and remove side effects -> form pills and ship them -> grade and price against market demand and rivals -> research better machines
design notes
Big Pharma's production puzzle is numeric: each ingredient carries cures and side effects that are active only inside concentration windows on a 0 to 20 scale, and machines raise, lower, combine, or transform effects at set concentrations. A line is a sequence of machines on conveyor belts in a fixed floor plan, so the order of operations and the space they take are both constraints. Products are graded from effectiveness, side effects, and market demand, and rival companies release competing drugs that saturate a disease's market. The primary challenge is line layout rather than corporate strategy, which places it in the factory-automation lineage with a business layer.