FIRST_RUN.md step 3 to go live.Every card is a concept-specific configuration of one mechanic family. Cards are data; families are engine code. A card is playable as soon as its family·mode is implemented.
timeline_reconstruction · history · sequencer.timeline
Concept: Chronology
Player does: Rebuild the events in order; dates reveal after placing
Breaks: Events happened in the order the textbook mentions them
A textbook's narrative order can differ from the true chronology of events, which is what dated evidence establishes.
domino_engine · history · linker.chain
Concept: Cause & effect chains
Player does: Place causes so the chain topples through to the consequence
Breaks: History is a list of unrelated events
Historical events form causal chains, where each link sets up the conditions for the next.
causal_weighting · history · investigator.weigh
Concept: Competing causes
Player does: Allocate importance among causes; the explanation shifts with the weights
Breaks: Every event has one cause
Major historical events usually have several contributing causes whose relative weight historians still debate.
evidence_lab · history · sorter.bins
Concept: Primary vs secondary sources
Player does: Inspect documents and classify each one
Breaks: Old means primary
A primary source comes directly from the time or people being studied; age alone does not decide the category.
source_seer · history · investigator.source_eval
Concept: Source reliability
Player does: Weigh testimony by author, timing, incentives, corroboration
Breaks: Eyewitnesses are always reliable
An eyewitness account's reliability depends on the author's position, timing, incentives, and corroboration, not on eyewitness status alone.
perspective_switch · history · investigator.perspective
Concept: Historical perspective
Player does: Replay the event as different actors; match accounts to motives
Breaks: People in the past thought like us
Historical actors reasoned from the beliefs and constraints of their own time, which often differ sharply from ours.
map_evolution · history · mapper.map
Concept: Borders & movement over time
Player does: Move borders, migrations, and battles to the right year
Breaks: Borders have always been where they are now
Borders have shifted repeatedly through conquest, treaty, and negotiation, so today's map is a recent snapshot.
evidence_board · history · investigator.elimination
Concept: Inference from evidence
Player does: Pin clues; eliminate hypotheses until one explanation stands
Breaks: Any evidence supports any claim
Evidence supports a specific hypothesis only when it is consistent with that hypothesis and inconsistent with the rivals.
counterevidence_attack · history · investigator.argument
Concept: Qualifying a claim
Player does: Opposing evidence weakens your claim until you qualify it
Breaks: A strong argument ignores counterevidence
A strong historical argument addresses counterevidence directly and qualifies its claim instead of ignoring it.
context_reconstruction · history · recall.cloze
Concept: Period vocabulary
Player does: Infer a term's meaning from its use in the source
Breaks: Terms meant then what they mean now
Words can shift meaning over time, so a period term's sense has to be inferred from its use in context, not today's usage.
oracle_of_consequence · history · truth_finder.predict_reveal
Concept: Decisions & consequences
Player does: Advise the ruler, then see the documented outcome
Breaks: The outcome was inevitable
Historical outcomes followed from real, contested decisions, not an inevitable script.
who_said_it · history · linker.pairs
Concept: Figures & ideas
Player does: Match quotes and positions to historical figures
Breaks: Reformers of an era all wanted the same thing
Reform movements within the same era often held competing, even conflicting, goals.
era_sorter · history · sorter.bins
Concept: Periodization
Player does: Sort artifacts and events into eras
Breaks: Eras begin and end on exact dates
Historical eras are analytical categories with fuzzy, debated boundaries, not events with exact start and end dates.
museum_palace · history · recall.memory_palace
Concept: Remembering lists
Player does: Tour the museum, then recall which exhibit stood in which room
Breaks: Rereading is the best way to memorize
Spatial memory techniques like a memory palace outperform passive rereading for recalling lists.
Which socket each family mounts on in each genre (LIBRARY §5). The boss socket is always allowed. Hosts built tonight: dungeon, mystery, platformer.
| Family | Dungeon crawler boss: boss | Investigation adventure boss: accusation | Side-view obstacle course boss: boss | Grid puzzle / escape room boss: boss | Management sim boss: crisis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truth Finder | chest / boss Treasure chests; the one bearing the false claim is a mimic | cross_exam / accusation One witness's claim contradicts the facts; object to the lie | gate / boss Three doors; the one with the false claim collapses | tile_board / boss Remove the odd tile to release the chain | event_card / crisis Advisors' claims; the false one tanks a stat |
| Sequencer | door / boss Glyph door pressed in process order | corkboard / accusation Rebuild the timeline on the corkboard | gap / boss Bridge planks in order; the wrong order leaves a gap | conveyor / boss Order the parcels on the conveyor | research_node / crisis Tech tree order |
| Tuner | door / boss Vault rings, catapult, or alchemy dials spinning on the function | lab / accusation Calibrate the instrument; set the lighthouse sweep | moving_platform / gate / boss Saw wheels, launch pads, a balloon that only lifts when tuned | lock / beam_board / boss Dial locks and gear trains | policy_dial / production_line / crisis Machine settings on the production line |
| Mapper | altar / enemy / boss Rune line on the altar floor, or an archery range on a number line | conversation / accusation At the auction, bid the right magnitude; pin the map | gap / boss The floor is a number line; land on the value | tile_board / boss Place the tile at its position on the axis | market / crisis Place goods on the price line |
| Sorter | enemy / boss Type-matched weapons; category-keyed doors | evidence / accusation File claims into case folders | gate / boss Only matching-category platforms are solid | goal_pad / boss Push crates onto category pads | market / crisis Route goods to districts |
| Linker | enemy / boss Chain lightning between pairs | corkboard / accusation String the board | pickup / boss Grapple anchors | pipe_board / boss Flow-style pairing | research_node / crisis Supply links |
| Investigator | door / boss Rooms are hypotheses; clues seal their doors | accusation / corkboard Pin clues, eliminate suspects, accuse | gate / boss Clues seal the doors of eliminated hypotheses | tile_board / boss Logic grid | event_card / crisis Policy debate with evidence |
| Function World | altar / boss Rune track whose floor height is f(x) | lab / accusation Sensor readings converging on a timestamp | gap / boss The terrain is y = f(x); the missing tile | tile_board / boss Track tiles that follow f | market / crisis Price curve over time |
| Balance | altar / boss Alchemy scale; spilled atoms become slimes | archive / accusation The ledger is off by one entry | switch / boss Seesaw bridge | lock / boss Cancel terms, DragonBox-style | ledger / crisis Balance budgets and flows |
| Simulator | enemy / boss Ecology rooms, reactor waves | lab / accusation Keep the patient stable overnight | moving_platform / boss Population or glucose lifts | beam_board / boss Place species so all are fed | crisis / policy_dial Run the economy or ecosystem |
| Builder | forge / boss Craft a molecule, circuit, or golem program | lab / accusation Build the compound or circuit | switch / boss Wire the elevator; word-block bridge | tile_board / boss Valence grid, Lightbot | production_line / crisis Lay out the factory |
| Transformer | forge / boss Crafting-bench machines | lab / accusation Decode the letter or cipher | pickup / gate / boss Power-up machine, cipher platforms | conveyor / pipe_board / boss Route through machines | production_line / crisis Processing chain |
| Accumulator | forge / boss Fill the reservoir to forge the key | archive / accusation Rebuild totals from rate logs | gap / boss Fill the pit; velocity ghost | conveyor / boss Fill tanks | production_line / crisis Output over time |
| Recall | enemy / boss Spells are flashcards, cooldowns are spacing | conversation / accusation Riddle-keeper interrogation | pickup / boss Type the term to double-jump | tile_board / boss Timed word tiles | research_node / crisis Quick recall boosts research |