S-01 · Sublayer review
The Evolution of Trust
A short interactive guide, half game and half explainer, to why people trust each other and when it breaks down.
The review
The Evolution of Trust is the best half hour in this list. Nicky Case calls it an interactive guide to the game theory of why and how we trust each other, and it works by letting you play: you face simple characters with simple rules, see who comes out ahead over many encounters, then change the rules yourself and watch a little society evolve.
It is clear, funny and genuinely surprising, and it has a real ending, which is rare. Fans have translated it into dozens of languages, listed on the page itself. Nicky's other work lives on the same site and is supported through Patreon and Ko-fi rather than adverts.
A way in
Play it through once in order, without skipping, and try the sandbox at the end only after the final chapter.
A place to stop
When the essay ends. It is built as one sitting with a beginning, a middle and a conclusion, and it says so when you get there.
Before you play
- Nothing to install: it runs in the browser.
- The full page is long; give it a quiet half hour.
- It is free, and the maker asks for support rather than showing adverts.
Also on the shelf
- Hexcodle: A daily guessing game for colour: work out today's six-character hex colour code from a target swatch.
- TETR.IO: A modern, fast block-stacker you can play alone or against people around the world.
- Colonist: A free online take on the island-settling board game: trade, build roads and race to ten points.