one dataset · paper, tables, graph, wiki
simgrammar the grammar of simulation

parts

23 mechanics, as Captain of Industry does them

core · 6

resources & production

Goods consumption

Residents consume food, water, electricity, healthcare, and household goods; each fully satisfied need yields Unity, and unmet food or health shrinks the population.

logistics & networks

Hauling jobs

Trucks are assigned to mines, storages, and buildings and automatically deliver products where they are needed, so fleet size and road layout cap throughput before belts and trains replace them.

resources & production

Production chains

Smelters, refineries, chemical plants, food processors, and assembly lines run recipe chains from iron and copper ore to electronics, fuel, consumer goods, and nuclear fuel across 100+ technologies.

resources & production

Resource extraction

Excavators dig ore, coal, limestone, and rock from designated terrain, while oil rigs, quartz and uranium mines, and water pumps work fixed deposits and outposts.

space & construction

Terraforming

Mining designations inside a Mine Control Tower area lower terrain and dumping designations raise it; loose material settles at per-material angles of repose, retaining walls stabilize slopes, and dumping can reclaim ocean.

risk & failure

Wear and breakdown

Working vehicles and buildings consume Maintenance I to III crafted at depots (idle at about a third); below 75% maintenance a breakdown is rolled monthly with chance rising to 50% at zero.

supporting · 17

space & construction

Building placement

resources & production

Byproducts and waste

Production emits slag, waste, carbon dioxide, wastewater, and spent nuclear fuel that must be dumped, treated, recycled, or stored.

logistics & networks

Conveyor transport

Belts and pipes give high-throughput direct links between machines once truck logistics become a bottleneck.

resources & production

Crop cultivation

Farms grow crops for food and industrial inputs, fertilizer boosts yields, and greenhouses grow advanced crops.

control & automation

Designation orders

The player paints mining and dumping designations, and excavators and trucks assigned to a Mine Control Tower carry out the work inside its area.

resources & production

Machine boosting

Unity is spent on building boosts (0.25 Unity each) that speed up individual buildings.

multiplayer & persistence

Modding API

Official C# mod support loads new content and code.

time & pacing

Periodic ticks

Unity income, population change, edict costs, and maintenance breakdown rolls resolve monthly.

governance & policy

Policy toggles

Captain's Office edicts change settlement rules, such as raising population growth by tier, for a monthly Unity cost.

governance & policy

Political capital

Each fully satisfied settlement need yields about 1 to 2 Unity per month, spent on edicts, outposts, quick trades, instant construction, and emergency repairs.

environment & ecology

Pollution spread

Air and water pollution and unmanaged waste spread disease among the population.

resources & production

Power grid

Generators up to nuclear reactors feed the settlement and factories, and residents require electricity as one of their needs.

resources & production

Storage and buffers

Storages and loose storage piles buffer materials, and full outputs stall production upstream.

progression & goals

Tech tree

Research labs consume products and Unity to unlock over 100 technologies from basic smelting to space flight.

economy & finance

Trade routes

Ships explore a world map to discover islands and trading partners; quick trades and recurring contracts exchange goods.

logistics & networks

Vehicle routes and schedules

Trains move bulk cargo over long distances, and ships run trade contracts between the home island and partners.

core loop

designate mining and dumping areas -> trucks haul ore and rock -> smelt and refine into goods -> feed, power, and house the population -> satisfied needs generate Unity -> spend Unity and products on research, edicts, and ship expeditions -> expand and terraform

design notes

Captain of Industry joins a factory game to a settlement whose population is both labor and a consumer: residents need housing, food, water, electricity, healthcare, and household goods, each fully satisfied need yields about one to two Unity per month, and Unity buys edicts, outposts, quick trades, instant construction, and emergency repairs. Every working vehicle and many buildings consume crafted Maintenance I, II, or III; below 75% a monthly breakdown roll begins, reaching 50% at zero, so maintenance is itself a production chain whose failure cascades through the economy. Terrain is a stock of materials: excavators dig inside a Mine Control Tower's area, trucks dump rock and dirt that settle at per-material angles of repose (about 42 degrees for loose dirt to 78 for hardened rock), and dumping reclaims ocean for ports. A ship explores a world map for islands, refugees, and trade partners. Unity works like a political-capital currency earned from welfare, which the taxonomy lacks; this run proposed one.

appears in

the paper, 2 sections · 2 chapters · 1 episode
paper

5. The structure of the design space

linked in this section of the paper

paper
paper

Appendix A. Game catalog

linked in this section of the paper

paper
catalog

The catalog

listed with its year, developer, subgenre, and number of mechanics

book
ch 4

Chapter 4. Families

linked from the text

book
ch 9

Chapter 9. Vacant lots

linked from the text

book
ep 8

Vacant lots

on screen at 3:19 workers who grow old

episode

claims

1 with sources
c01high

Captain of Industry entered Steam Early Access on 2022-05-31 and was still in Early Access in October 2026, with the developers estimating two to four more years.

src-steam-2026-captain-of-industry

sources

5
(2026). Captain of Industry. Steam
Captain of Industry Wiki contributors (2026). Maintenance. Captain of Industry Wiki
Captain of Industry Wiki contributors (2026). Unity. Captain of Industry Wiki
Captain of Industry Wiki contributors (2026). Population. Captain of Industry Wiki
Captain of Industry Wiki contributors (2026). Dumping Designation. Captain of Industry Wiki

provenance

runs in log/runs
2026-10-24
created2026-10-24-catalog-ghcatalog
2026-10-24
reviewed2026-10-24-review-fixesmaintenance
2026-10-25
reviewed2026-10-25-contributor-readinessmaintenance