"A failure cascade occurs when the failure of one part of a system puts stress on other parts, causing them to fail in turn until the entire system collapses. This concept can be illustrated with a simple ecosystem example: a frog, flies, slugs, and crickets. In a stable ecosystem, the frog eats a variety of prey, allowing each population to replenish and remain stable. However, if an external factor like a pesky gardener using slug pellets wipes out the slug population, the frog is left with fewer food options. This leads to overeating of flies and crickets, causing their populations also to collapse. The resulting cascade leads to the frog depleting all its food sources and eventually relocating to a new garden, because I didn't want the frog to starve and this story to have a sad ending.
"Fortunately, real-world ecosystems are often more resilient due to their depth and redundancies. In contrast, human-made systems, including power grids and transportation networks, are more susceptible to failure cascades as they are too complex to predict points of failure and lack the depth to have built-in redundancies. For instance, the 1965 Northeast Blackout, which left 30 million people without power for 13 hours, was caused by a single relay in one power plant being set incorrectly. Similarly, nuclear disasters and traffic jams often result from a single point of failure causing a chain reaction.
"This phenomenon is also evident in games, particularly simulation games that model complex systems, aka the nerdy games I enjoy. Games like Dwarf Fortress, Surviving Mars, and Tropico require players to manage resources, production, and population needs while dealing with randomly occurring crises. The charm of these games lies in the unexpected consequences that can arise from seemingly minor decisions, leading to dramatic and often hilarious stories."
Read the full blog over at Game Developer.
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