E49: The Economic Game Theory of All Games

The entire theory of games is underpinned by this one theory, but how far can it's explanitory power be pushed? Phillip Black, Christopher Kaczmarczyk-Smith, and Eric Guan talk cozy Pokemon habitats, merge-game economics multipliers, AI labor-market irony, and Edward Castronova's foundational work on virtual worlds. We talk: Pokopia as the Pokemon cozy game: short production chains daily-quest systems without free-to-play monetization pressure Multipliers as the key merge-game innovation: a gas pedal on spend per hour faster energy drain faster story progression a new way to price acceleration Narrative as reward subsidy or tax: story can make the next meta milestone worth chasing story can also break flow for players who just want the core loop AI and the game-industry labor market: layoffs look more like a post-2021 correction longer unemployment spells in information work may be the cleaner AI signal AI may suppress hiring before it shows up as direct separations Ca...