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

parts

15 mechanics, as Football Manager does them

core · 4

agents & behavior

Agent skills

Player attributes develop through training schedules, match experience, and coaching quality up to individual potential.

agents & behavior

Attribute-driven match engine

Fixtures are simulated event by event from each player's attributes, condition, and morale and the manager's tactics and touchline instructions, shown in 2D or 3D.

information & legibility

Scouting knowledge

Players' attributes are shown only as well as the club's scouts know them; scout knowledge accumulates per region and is shown as a percentage from FM 2018.

economy & finance

Staff hiring and rosters

Players and staff are signed through transfers, loans, and contracts with wages, bonuses, and agents.

supporting · 11

risk & failure

Board confidence

The board sets season expectations and, with fan confidence, judges results against them; falling confidence brings warnings and then sacking.

narrative & generation

Dilemma cards

Press conferences pose questions with answer options that change morale and media relations.

population & lineage

Lifecycle and aging

Players peak and decline with age, retire, and are replaced by yearly youth intakes.

economy & finance

Negotiation

Transfer fees are negotiated with selling clubs and contracts with players and their agents over wages, length, bonuses, and clauses, and talks can break down.

agents & behavior

Personality traits

Personality and hidden attributes such as professionalism affect development and reactions.

world generation

Procedural characters

Generated youth players enter the database each season alongside the real ones.

social relations

Relationship values

Squad hierarchy, cohesion, and player opinions of the manager are tracked from FM 2018.

social relations

Reputation

Club and manager reputation set who will sign; board and fan confidence decide whether the manager is sacked.

social relations

Social exchanges

Team talks and private conversations with players praise, criticize, or promise, changing morale.

information & legibility

Stats dashboards

Data analysts and statistics screens report player and team performance.

economy & finance

Treasury and budget

Club finances cover wage and transfer budgets, with taxes added in FM 2013.

core loop

scout and sign players -> set tactics and training -> the match engine simulates fixtures from attributes and instructions -> morale, form, and finances shift -> the board and fans judge results -> rebuild the squad over seasons

design notes

Football Manager simulates the whole football world from a database of real players, staff, and clubs maintained by fan researchers, with tens of thousands of players developing, aging, and moving in loaded leagues. Matches are simulated from player attributes and tactical instructions and shown through a 2D engine in FM 2005 and a 3D engine from FM 2009. Information is uncertain: scouts and analysts reveal attributes and fit, and scout knowledge of an area is tracked (as 0 to 100 percent from FM 2018). Everton agreed in 2008 to use the database for scouting. Contract and transfer talks and the board's job-security judgment have no matching mechanics in the taxonomy (proposed as negotiation and board-confidence). The series began as Championship Manager in 1992 and was relaunched under this name with FM 2005 in 2004.

appears in

the paper, 3 sections · 5 chapters · 1 episode
paper

3. The catalog

linked in this section of the paper

paper
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 3

Chapter 3. Old parts

linked from the text

book
ch 4

Chapter 4. Families

linked from the text

book
ch 5
book
ch 9

Chapter 9. Vacant lots

linked from the text

book
ch 10

Chapter 10. Bets

linked from the text

book
ep 8

Vacant lots

on screen at 1:12 packages

episode

sources

2
Wikipedia contributors (2026). Football Manager. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors (2026). Football Manager 2005. Wikipedia

provenance

runs in log/runs
2026-10-24
created2026-10-24-catalog-gecatalog