Sources and sinks: the first map of any game economy

Every free-to-play economy is a system of flows. Resources enter through sources (rewards, drops, purchases) and leave through sinks (upgrades, crafting, gacha, time skips). If you can't draw this map on one page, you can't balance it.

Start with the faucet diagram

List every currency and item. For each one, draw arrows from every source and to every sink. You'll spot orphan currencies, sinks nobody uses, and loops that inflate without control.

Measure flow per player per day

Instrument earn and spend per segment: new players, engaged non-payers, and payers. Healthy economies keep a mild deficit for engaged players — enough desire to spend, never enough to feel stuck.

Inflation is a LiveOps problem

Each event adds sources. Without matching sinks, your premium currency quietly loses value. Plan sinks in the same document where you plan event rewards.