The Commons Era
a collaborative world-building experiment about trust, power, and accountability
The year is undefined but takes place shortly after the start of the Post-Capitalicus (P.C.E) period, a calendar reset marking the moment when global markets imploded and philanthropy lost legitimacy.Foundations, NGOs, and governments collapsed under their own contradictions of endless reporting, extraction disguised as aid, and oversight masquerading as justice.Out of the ashes rose The Commons Era, a time defined by radical experiments in trust-based governance. The guiding principle was simple yet terrifying:“Let resources flow where care is practiced, not where proof is perfected.”Trillions of dollars, now released from traditional institutions, circulate through networks of trust, each inventing their own accountability structures. Some thrive. Others burn.
Regions
In this post-philanthropy landscape, regions are less about national borders and more about philosophical ecologies formed by a dominant logic of trust, accountability, and exchange.Where you are determines what trust feels like and how it’s built, broken, and rebuilt.
The Luminous Basin
Radical transparency. All flows are visible. All actions are public.
The Verdant Syndicate
Trust is relational, not systemic. Accountability grows like a forest through interdependence.
The Alloy Republic
Accountability through design. Code is governance.
The Covenant Archipelago
Accountability is spiritual. Trust is sacred covenant, not contract.
The Veiled Territories
Transparency is a tool of control. Trust thrives in shadow.
The Horizon Frontier
Trust is experimentation. Failure is feedback.
| Region | Society | Tension |
|---|---|---|
| Luminous Basin | The Basin’s Trust Ledger is public: anyone can see where every resource goes. Its people believe sunlight is the only disinfectant. Their motto is “Transparency is love,” | When every decision is recorded, performativity replaces authenticity. Citizens begin performing virtue to maintain their trust scores. Some whisper that real trust begins where visibility ends. |
| Verdant Syndicate | Every relationship is tracked not by data but by ritual (shared meals, exchanged seeds, co-parented gardens). Trust flows through reciprocity. Their currency, Kin, only circulates through verified acts of care. | Favoritism and nepotism flourish under the guise of intimacy. Outsiders struggle to gain footing. How do you measure fairness in a world where everyone’s worth is relational? |
| Alloy Republic | The Republic runs on open-source smart contracts and each collective programs its own governance model. Algorithms distribute wealth based on participatory scoring of impact narratives. | When code replaces judgment, compassion fades. Loopholes emerge; those fluent in systems architecture consolidate power. The question becomes: is automation a safeguard or a new hierarchy? |
| Covenant Archipelago | The Archipelago sees redistribution as penance for historical harm. Every act of giving is a moral reckoning. The more one gives, the lighter one’s spirit becomes. | Guilt can be weaponized. Forgiveness becomes currency. Faith-based leaders begin consolidating authority through moral charisma. |
| Veiled Territories | They reject public ledgers, operating on encrypted trust circles. Verification happens through anonymous reputation tokens known as “Ghostmarks” | Paranoia corrodes trust. Betrayals are invisible until too late. Yet their secrecy protects the most vulnerable: dissidents, refugees, whistleblowers. |
| Horizon Frontier | They pilot new systems constantly with models like cooperative AI, hybrid barter, and regenerative economics. Every few cycles, they dismantle and rebuild. Nothing is permanent. | Without continuity, memory dissolves. Each experiment risks repeating old mistakes in new forms. Who holds the collective lessons when everything is temporary? |
Exploring the World
There are two options for experiencing this world
Independently and asynchronously with the guided reflection questions below. Add your reflections to The Commons Era's world of text
Live facilitated group exploration of the regions (request)
Reflection Questions
Choose a region that pulls at you or unsettles you. In one sentence, what does your body do when you imagine standing there?
Choose a region that calls to you and imagine a city, town, or community that exists within it. Explore what that looks like within the region. What colors, textures, scents, sounds, tastes do you encounter? What’s it like to interact with other entities there?
What question(s) are you carrying out of this world today?
Game Mechanics
Trust Mechanics
The Trust Cycle
At its core, Trust is the shared currency of the world.Each region holds its own internal trust logic and interregional interactions navigate these differences.
Trust As A Flow State
1. Trust Pools
Each region has:
a Local Trust Pool (how much it trusts itself)
a Global Trust Pool (how much others trust it)
When trust flows between regions, it draws from both.
Strong Local, weak Global: admired internally but distrusted externally
Weak Local, strong Global: popular image masking fragile foundation
2. Exchange Vectors
Trust travels via three main routes:
| Vector | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Resource Flow | Exchange of materials, labor, energy | The Syndicate sends food to the Basin |
| Narrative Flow | Exchange of stories, data, or art | The Archipelago records a repentance ritual for the Republic’s archives |
| Ethical Flow | Exchange of governance models or norms | The Frontier adopts the Basin’s transparency code, but adapts it |
Trust Archetype
Each region values some trust types and rejects others, shaping diplomacy and trade.
| Trust Type | Description | Fragility |
|---|---|---|
| Transparent | Built on visibility, data, proof | Shatters with hidden info |
| Relational | Built on human ties, care, reciprocity | Decays when stretched beyond community |
| Covenantal | Built on moral or spiritual commitments | Collapses with hypocrisy or moral failure |
| Obscured | Built on protection, secrecy, coded knowledge | Breaks when exposed |
| Experimental | Built on risk-taking and iteration | Evaporates with stagnation |
when incompatible types interact, conversion friction occurs, lowering the yield of trust exchange
Events That Altar Trust Dynamics
1. Breach Events
A region violates another’s ethos (e.g., the Republic leaks Veiled data)
Consequence: global trust in both drops
2. Trust Mirroring
Two regions synchronize ethics (e.g., Frontier adopts Syndicate’s kinship economy)
Consequence: shared trust rises, but their diversity of models weakens (echo chambers form)
3. Gift Shock
A massive act of generosity (e.g., Archipelago forgives a debt) destabilizes norms
Consequence: momentary surge in global trust, followed by power struggles over interpretation
4. Trust Collapse
If a region’s global trust drops below a threshold, it’s quarantined
Others must decide whether to reintegrate it (risking corruption) or abandon it (losing diversity)
Accountability Mechanics
Conceptual Grounding
In the context of The Commons Era, accountability is less about oversight and more about relational repair. It answers the question:“Once trust is given, how do we stay answerable to its consequences?”Traditional philanthropy made accountability vertical (reports to funders).This game asks:
What happens when accountability becomes horizontal (peer-based)?
Or cyclical (community to ecosystem to self and back)?
Can accountability itself be redistributed, like wealth?
So, accountability in this world = The flow of consequence or how intention meets impact
Trust Map System
The Trust Map System is the heart of the game’s mechanics. Part emotional cartography, part political infrastructure, it visualizes how trust flows through a world that no longer has banks or funders, only relationships and risk.
Purpose & Function
The Trust Map visualizes:
Where power currently resides
How trust moves (and mutates) between regions
Where accountability is decaying or regenerating
It’s both dashboard and mirror: it tracks data, but also asks players to interpret what that data means in moral and emotional terms
Structural Elements
Possibilities
Systemic Evolution
After multiple cycles, the entire network evolves based on aggregate choices. The endgame question becomes:Can a world sustain trust without collapsing into either control or chaos?
| Pattern | Emergent Outcome | Symbolism |
|---|---|---|
| Centripetal Flow (trust coalesces into one hub) | Proto-bureaucracy reborn | “The new empire of virtue.” |
| Centrifugal Flow (trust disperses) | Mutual aid web; less efficiency | “Everywhere, but thin.” |
| Oscillating Flow | Cycles of betrayal and forgiveness | “The long memory of care.” |
| Recursive Flow | Regions begin adopting one another’s mechanisms | “The synthesis era.” |
Concept
In the aftermath of capitalism’s collapse, traditional philanthropy has dissolved. The world’s largest endowments have been liquidated into decentralized “Commons Pools.” Movements, cooperatives, and collectives now steward these pools and are tasked with redistributing this wealth according to their values. But trust is fragile in this new environment. Every decision, investment, and act of generosity is scrutinized for how it shapes how power flows again.The player’s role is to navigate this fragile landscape, not to “win,” but to experiment with systems that balance trust, transparency, and transformation.
Purpose
“Let resources flow where care is practiced, not where proof is perfected.”The Commons Era is a storytelling systems game set after the collapse of institutional philanthropy. It asks: how do we (re)build trust while (re)building systems of power?The game is not a simulation of charity but rather a rehearsal for post-capitalist imagination. Every mechanic is a metaphor for how communities allocate care, accountability, and trust.Together, we’ll prototype worlds, write their rituals, and trace the pulse of trust across new economies of care. Not to find the answer but to practice holding the contradictions long enough to imagine something wiser.
Core Principles
| Principle | Description |
|---|---|
| Trust as ecology | Trust isn’t a static resource but a living metabolism: it grows, decays, and mutates through relationships |
| Accountability as culture | Oversight is replaced by shared rituals, storytelling, and reciprocal witnessing |
| Pluralism over Purity | No single philosophy “wins.” Transparency, secrecy, faith, and experimentation coexist in tension |
| Design as dialogue | Systems are stories; rules emerge from conversation. Players co-author governance, not just outcomes |
| Repair before reward | The game rewards restoration and reflection more than conquest or efficiency |
Community Response
"I absolutely loved the space to imagine - all regions were really provoking/dreamable""Thank you so much for this really thought provoking and beautiful and creative environment….""Loved the exercise, please keep going!""Such fun! Thank you""this has been absolutely fascinating"
this game world was conceived by di pham during the 2025 Post Growth Fellowship and is being developed as part of their ongoing work on wealth redistribution and the BDS movement