A roguelike dungeon and outdoor adventure where everything has a price. The further you venture from town, the greater the danger — and the reward.
You start in a small town with minimal gold and basic gear. The world extends outward in zones of increasing danger and wealth. Every run is a business decision: how far can you push before your supplies run out, your weapons degrade, and the debt collectors come knocking?
- Safe hub where all core services are located
- Inn for rest and saving (costs gold)
- Notice board with bounties and quests
- Bank to deposit gold so you don't lose it on death
- Shops: blacksmith, general store, alchemist, armorsmith
| Zone | Area | Difficulty | Loot Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Town outskirts / fields | Easy | Low |
| 2 | Forest / caves | Medium | Moderate |
| 3 | Ruins / abandoned settlements | Hard | High |
| 4 | Deep dungeon | Extreme | Rare / Unique |
- Enemy difficulty, loot quality, and merchant prices all scale with distance from town
- A visible danger rating ticks up the further you roam
- The only source of income is selling loot back in town
- Everything else is a cost: food, water, ammo, rest, gear, entry fees, repairs
- Creates constant pressure to keep pushing further for better loot to cover costs
- Items have a base price that scales with the zone they were found in
- Zone multiplier: loot found in zone 3 sells for 3x but operating costs are also 3x
- Rare items only appear in deep zones with very high sell value
- Blacksmith — weapons, repairs, upgrades using materials you bring back
- General Store — food, water, torches, basic ammo
- Alchemist — potions and antidotes
- Armorsmith — armor and shields
- Each shop has limited stock that restocks over time
- Sell too many of the same item and the price drops
- Town has rotating "needs" — rare materials spike in price temporarily
- Seasonal and event-based demand shifts (e.g. town under threat raises weapon prices)
- Inventory weight limit forces hard choices on what to bring back
- Heavier load = slower movement = more food and water consumed
- Bags and pack upgrades purchasable in town
- Weapons degrade and need repair (gold or materials)
- Armor has durability
- Ammo is finite and expensive deep in zones
- Forces active resource management rather than hoarding
- Food and water meters deplete over time
- Starving or dehydrated applies stat penalties
- Forces you to either return to town or find supplies from wilderness merchants
- Deep runs require careful pre-planning of supplies vs. carry weight
- Spawn randomly in wilderness zones
- Sell at 2x–3x markup vs town (captive market, no competition)
- Buy your loot at a discount — convenient but costly
- Rare merchant types in deep zones with unique stock
- Deep in zone 4 with great loot but barely enough food to get back
- Deciding whether to sell now at a traveling merchant or risk carrying it to town for full price
- Watching your favorite weapon degrade at the worst possible time
- Borrow gold from the bank with interest that compounds per run
- Miss payments and shops refuse to sell to you
- Deep debt triggers debt collector enemies that hunt you in the world
- Insurance system — pay upfront to recover gear on death
- Die with a loan outstanding and the next run starts in the red
A broker NPC or notice board in town displays commodity prices that fluctuate based on your actions and world events.
- Crafting materials: iron, steel, wood, leather
- Survival goods: food, water
- Weapon and armor types
- Magic components and rare drops from deep zones
- Your actions — selling 20 iron swords crashes the iron price
- World events — a goblin raid spikes weapon demand
- Time / seasons — food prices rise in dungeon "winter" cycles
- Simulated traders — ghost NPCs affect the market between your runs
- Zone clears — clearing a floor reduces its loot supply, temporarily raising prices
- Buy low, sell high on commodities between runs
- Futures contracts — lock in a price now, deliver goods later
- Short selling — bet a commodity price will drop, profit if it does
- Buy a stake in the blacksmith, general store, alchemist, etc.
- Earn a cut of their revenue passively each run
- Flooding their market with cheap goods hurts your own investment
- Businesses can go bankrupt if the economy collapses
- Hoard a rare material then sell it all at once to crash the price
- Corner the market on a commodity and set your own price
- Bribe the broker for advance notice on price shifts
- Spread rumors via dialogue to inflate demand artificially
- Market crashes — everything loses value suddenly
- Inflation — town prices rise across the board over time
- Monopoly NPCs that compete with you for market control
- Tax audits if you accumulate wealth too fast
- Investment returns are capped per run
- Heavy manipulation triggers regulatory NPCs or town suspicion
- Futures contracts expire worthless if you die before delivering
- Broker takes a cut on every transaction
- Notice iron prices are high on the board
- Gear up and head to the iron-rich zone 2 caves
- Return loaded with ore and weapons
- Sell at peak price, invest some profit into the blacksmith
- Watch iron prices drop from the flood
- Check what is rising next and plan your next run accordingly
- Wildlife — basic threats in outer zones
- Bandits — ambush and loot you if you are carrying a lot
- Corporate enforcers — deeper zones, protect high-value loot
- Debt collectors — spawn and hunt you when you miss loan payments
- Landlord boss — evicts you from a floor if you have not paid the entry fee
- Bailiff enemies — repossess your gear if you are in severe debt
- Receipt-style transaction log for every purchase
- News ticker on the broker board explaining price shifts
- Commodity price graphs (green = rising, red = falling)
- Signs in the wilderness: "Trespassing fine: 50g"
- Town NPCs comment on how long you have been gone
- Satirical item flavor text: "Sword — previously owned, minor blood stains, sold as-is"
- Dungeon entrance is literally gated with a paid entry fee
| Stage | Feel |
|---|---|
| Early game | Barely breaking even, every purchase matters |
| Mid game | Starting to profit, upgrading gear, expanding range |
| Late game | Wealthy enough to take big risks, but costs scale too — always tense |
A casino or tavern in town lets you risk gold for a chance at big returns — or losing everything before your next run.
- Dice — simple high/low bets, fast and cheap
- Cards — higher skill ceiling, bigger swings
- Slots — loot-themed machine with rare jackpot items instead of gold
- Fight betting — wager on arena matches between captured monsters
- House always has an edge, but odds improve with a "luck" stat you can invest in
- Hot streak system — win several in a row and the house cuts you off or raises limits
- Loan sharks in the casino offer instant gold at brutal interest rates
- Jackpot prizes can include rare gear, map locations, or stock tips
- Gambling debt is tracked separately from bank debt — loan sharks send different, nastier collectors
- Casino can be rigged by certain NPCs you can bribe or expose
- Winning too much gets you banned until you pay a "membership fee"
- Language: C++
- Engine: raylib
- Tileset: Tiny 16 by Sharm (itch.io)
- Linux:
g++ -std=c++17 ./src/main.cpp -o ./capitalism -I./src -I./include -L./lib/linux -lraylib -lGL -lm -lpthread -ldl -lrt -lX11 - Windows:
g++ -std=c++17 .\src\main.cpp -o .\capitalism.exe -I.\src -I.\include -L.\lib\win64 -lraylib -lopengl32 -lgdi32 -lwinmm