insanity as a resource

I've seen games that have sanity as a statistic for characters, such as in Elder Sign - I'm sure you could track insanity as well as "loss of sanity", it's just a matter of direction, and whether tracking different stats in different directions would be confusing.

But insanity as a resource is something else entirely! I guess the question in its use would be whether it's something you use for yourself or if you use it against other players.

Insanity goes well with randomness, so I started thinking about dice. Picture some sort of mad scientist game, where you need to complete experiments to win, and the most insane experiments get you the most points.

So let's say you have a list of 12 experiments (we could go to 20, but might be too much). Experiment 1 would be the least insane, and experiment 12 would be the most insane.

You start by rolling a 4 sided die, so only experiments 1-4 are available to you. You could possibly have modified cards to add an extra point or two, so you could have more choice in which experiment you do, or go a bit beyond the die roll.

As you turn in "insanity" resources, you can change your die from a 4 sided, to a 6 sided, then an 8 sided, then 10 sided, and finally a 12 sided die, where all 12 experiments are now available. So you're basically upgrading your die as you gain more insanity, and can thus attempt the more insane experiments!

I'm sure this example idea comes from the fact that I'm currently working on a game with Alchemy experiments lol! I could see working this in, but I'm trying to simplify now - who knows, maybe an expansion?

Have levels of insanity/crazy be mutually-exclusive to other resources/abilities, and mark their balance on a shared board. In this example, there's a zero-sum relationship: when you gain insanity, you lose the same amount (or the same potential amount) in another, more-typical resource. As long as there's incentive to consider gaining Insanity, then you allow for an interesting choice for the player.

For example: imagine you have four different attributes: Technology, Community, Knowledge, Influence. You have a maximum amount of 10 in each category, and the player's current level in that attribute can be increased over time as they play the game. However, if a player taps into the Insanity resource, they gain one "point" of insanity. The player must choose a particular attribute track to add their Insanity to.

Let's say that the player chooses the Influence category. They place the Insanity token on the far end of their Influence attribute track. They now have 1 point of Insanity, and a maximum of 9 in Influence for the rest of the game.

Obviously, this doesn't become an issue if the player doesn't take on more Insanity, but if they do, then they'll see that their ability to increase their attributes - or keep them at a high level - could be compromised.

To mitigate this, some players may want to "spread around" their Insanity, so it affects different aspects of their character in smaller ways. But focusing Insanity on a particular attribute may also be a viable strategy, as well as afford a bonus to Insanity side-effects/perks.

If you want to have a constant dilemma, make sure there are advantages to acquiring Insanity as opposed to just being a negative effect. This way, the player may be forced to choose to keep their normal attributes at a higher level (or higher level of potential), or tap into the powers and abilities awarded through Insanity.

There could even be some viable strategy related to gaining as much Insanity as possible before the rest of the players. You would need to address balance issues between high Insanity versus someone who keeps high levels in the typical attributes, but to me it sounds like it would be fun to try.

For quite some time now I'd been wanting to develop a solo game based on Anne Bronte's "Tenant of Wildfell Hall," which deals with a woman who left her philandering drunkard of a husband. Balancing "when to leave the husband" - and drawing social scandal - versus staying under his sway while gathering resources has been a challenge to depict in-game. However, being influenced by this discussion I feel like I'm edging closer to it.

In a broader sense, any developing social movement can be depicted as thus. Another famous (and misattributed) quote comes to mind: "First they ignore you; then they abuse you; then they crack down on you and then you win."

The player's decision is, then, when to address the tipping point before the "crack down" so that hopefully they reach the "win" before it's too late.

Besides just an opposing resource mechanic, "insanity" implies a behavioral element that alters somehow. Limiting or lowering capabilities is a cool mechanic, as insanity would make you less capable, but wouldn't it also cause you to make some insane, random choices too? Like wasting or destroying a resource, or just plain randomizing something that you wouldn't normally randomize?

Insanity could be a resource but only to add chaos, disorder. But most of the time, the goal of a game is to make order, not disorder. To control more things, bend the other players into losing or wasting their actions and resources. So, I think insanity level could be a defensive mechanism. The higher your insanity, the more difficult it is to rein you, from the other players point of view. It'd make it more risky to attack you because your response could be crazy because your insanity rating is higher.