adjacency-scoring mechanic asserted
Adjacency scoring
A placement's value is computed from a table of bonuses and penalties for the placements around it.
definition
Each placeable type has a table of signed effects from neighbor types within a footprint, ring, or radius. When an object is placed (and in some games when a neighbor later changes), its value is recomputed as a base plus the sum of qualifying neighbor contributions, sometimes capped or with diminishing returns. The value feeds score, production yield, or desirability. Islanders (2019) previews the points a building will earn from nearby buildings before it is placed, and points unlock new building packs. Civilization VI (2016) gives districts adjacency yields from neighboring terrain and districts, such as science for a Campus next to mountains and gold for a Commercial Hub next to a river. Tile-laying builders such as Dorfromantik score matching edges between neighboring tiles. The state is the placement map plus the effect table; the update is a local sum.
player experience
Every placement is a small search problem with a visible answer. Players hover candidates to read preview numbers, reserve tiles for pieces they expect later, and feel clever when one placement lights up several neighbors. Penalties make them keep nuisances apart, so layouts acquire districts and buffers.
design levers
- neighborhood shape: touching tiles, ring, or radius, and whether diagonals count
- size and asymmetry of the effect table, including negative pairs that force separation
- stacking rule for multiple neighbors: linear, capped, or diminishing
- whether values freeze at placement or recompute when neighbors change later
- how much of the calculation the preview shows before commitment
failure modes
- Once players find the best repeating cluster, every settlement uses the same stamp and the spatial puzzle ends.
- Positive-only tables make maximum density always optimal, removing any reason to spread out.
- Hidden or partly shown effect tables push players to wikis and calculators to plan placements.
- Retroactive recomputation changes the value of old placements in ways players did not intend and cannot trace.
dynamics
- Clusters of mutually reinforcing types form districts, and nuisance types get pushed to edges or buffers.
- Scarce space turns adjacency into a packing problem in which early placements constrain later ones.
- When adjacency feeds unlocks or income, early good clusters compound into a lead.
open questions
- Can a learned model of layout quality replace hand-written pairwise tables while staying predictable enough to plan against?
- What table size and asymmetry keep a solved cluster template from appearing within a few hours of play?
ratings
12 from named runs; stored scores are their lower medianoriginal score
Local neighbor effects and placement previews are mostly intuitive. Hidden pairs and retroactive changes create occasional surprises, so this falls below fully transparent at a glance (5), without normally needing deliberate investigation (3).
original score
Space constraints, future pieces and yield unlocks interact to create unplanned layouts. This exceeds merely parametric variation (2), but local sums do not frequently drive long cross-system chains strongly enough for 4.
original score
Signed type-pair effects, radii and caps fit small data tables. This requires more content data than rules alone (1), without moderate bespoke content for each arrangement (3).
original score
Local neighborhood queries and sums have modest constants at typical placement scale. Recomputing several neighbors exceeds negligible bookkeeping (1), but is not ordinarily a late-game slowdown source (3).
original score
Small changes to stacking or positive pairs can make one repeating cluster or maximum density dominant. This is more sensitive than ordinary multi-parameter playtesting (3), while caps and penalties can still settle balance below 5.
original score
AI can help tune effect tables and search for dominant layouts, an incremental improvement. The combinatorial placement rule retains its ceiling, so a notable change in cost or variety (3) is not established; little change (1) understates useful tuning assistance.
