FAILURE MAP
← Case archive

FA-86196 / Game economy crafting balance / Open access

Gem combining cascade: Leftover low-tier gems vanish · case 01

Gems that do not form a full triple are destroyed.

Verified by executionVariant 1 · 8 checks per implementationDownload source bundle ↓JSON ↗

ROOT CAUSE

The tier count is zeroed instead of reduced by three per combine.

VERIFIED REPAIR

Restore `g[t] -= made * 3` at the consumed gems step.

Unsuccessful approach: Subtracting one per combine duplicates gems.

Case contract

gems[t] = count of tier t gems for t = 0..max_tier. Tiers are processed upward: three tier t gems make one tier t+1 gem at a cost of (t+1)*10 gold each, limited by the remaining gold budget; newly made gems can cascade into the next tier. Max-tier gems never combine. Returns [counts, gold_spent].

Why this case matters

Game economies leak or destroy currency when one crafting or pricing rule is off by one boundary, rounding stage or state update; the defect is observable in exact integer outcomes.

1 / The failure

Exit 1
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json

N = 1
observations = []
def solve(gems, max_tier, budget):
    g = list(gems)
    gold = 0
    for t in range(max_tier):
        price = (t + 1) * 10
        made = min(g[t] // 3, (budget - gold) // price)
        g[t] = 0
        g[t + 1] += made
        gold += made * price
    return [g, gold]
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
cases = [[('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[4, 4, 3, 3, 9], 4, 29], [[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('partial repair boundary #1', [[9, 3, 2], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 4], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 60], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('partial repair boundary #1', [[9, 3, 2], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 4], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[4, 4, 3, 3, 9], 4, 29], [[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 60], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[0, 4, 7, 4], 3, 29], [[0, 1, 8, 4], 20]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[3, 9, 8, 3], 3, 60], [[0, 4, 10, 3], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 0], 1, 30], [[0, 0], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[9, 9, 2], 2, 10], [[6, 10, 2], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[4, 4, 0, 9, 8], 4, 60], [[1, 2, 1, 9, 8], 30]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[0, 4, 7, 4], 3, 29], [[0, 1, 8, 4], 20]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[3, 9, 8, 3], 3, 60], [[0, 4, 10, 3], 50]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 30], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[25, 26, 8, 0], 3, 10], [[22, 27, 8, 0], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[4, 2, 0, 3, 6], 4, 201], [[1, 0, 1, 0, 7], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[9, 9, 2], 2, 10], [[6, 10, 2], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[4, 4, 0, 9, 8], 4, 60], [[1, 2, 1, 9, 8], 30]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 3], 1, 1000], [[0, 3], 0])]]
for label, args, expected in cases[N-1]:
    check(label, solve(*args), expected)
print(json.dumps({"observations": observations, "passed": all(x["passed"] for x in observations)}, ensure_ascii=False))
raise SystemExit(0 if all(x["passed"] for x in observations) else 1)
Boundary fixtureActualExpectedOutcome
budget stops second tier #1[[0, 0, 0], 30][[0, 4, 0], 30]Failed
two level cascade #1[[0, 0, 1], 50][[0, 0, 1], 50]Passed
regression consumed gems #1[[0, 0, 0, 0, 9], 10][[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]Failed
regression consumed gems #2[[0, 0, 2], 60][[9, 8, 2], 60]Failed
partial repair boundary #1[[0, 0, 4], 70][[0, 0, 4], 70]Passed
regression consumed gems #3[[0, 0, 24], 10][[6, 29, 24], 10]Failed
max tier untouched #1[[0, 6], 0][[0, 6], 0]Passed
control #1[[0, 8], 0][[0, 8], 0]Passed

SHA-256 / 2a834fbb4015b6eb18d1f190f883c59eb7cb93f618a915fdeb1c04f44e9ac144

2 / The unsuccessful fix

Exit 1
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json

N = 1
observations = []
def solve(gems, max_tier, budget):
    g = list(gems)
    gold = 0
    for t in range(max_tier):
        price = (t + 1) * 10
        made = min(g[t] // 3, (budget - gold) // price)
        g[t] -= made
        g[t + 1] += made
        gold += made * price
    return [g, gold]
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
cases = [[('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[4, 4, 3, 3, 9], 4, 29], [[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('partial repair boundary #1', [[9, 3, 2], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 4], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 60], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('partial repair boundary #1', [[9, 3, 2], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 4], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[4, 4, 3, 3, 9], 4, 29], [[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 60], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[0, 4, 7, 4], 3, 29], [[0, 1, 8, 4], 20]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[3, 9, 8, 3], 3, 60], [[0, 4, 10, 3], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 0], 1, 30], [[0, 0], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[9, 9, 2], 2, 10], [[6, 10, 2], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[4, 4, 0, 9, 8], 4, 60], [[1, 2, 1, 9, 8], 30]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[0, 4, 7, 4], 3, 29], [[0, 1, 8, 4], 20]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[3, 9, 8, 3], 3, 60], [[0, 4, 10, 3], 50]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 30], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[25, 26, 8, 0], 3, 10], [[22, 27, 8, 0], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[4, 2, 0, 3, 6], 4, 201], [[1, 0, 1, 0, 7], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[9, 9, 2], 2, 10], [[6, 10, 2], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[4, 4, 0, 9, 8], 4, 60], [[1, 2, 1, 9, 8], 30]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 3], 1, 1000], [[0, 3], 0])]]
for label, args, expected in cases[N-1]:
    check(label, solve(*args), expected)
print(json.dumps({"observations": observations, "passed": all(x["passed"] for x in observations)}, ensure_ascii=False))
raise SystemExit(0 if all(x["passed"] for x in observations) else 1)
Boundary fixtureActualExpectedOutcome
budget stops second tier #1[[6, 4, 0], 30][[0, 4, 0], 30]Failed
two level cascade #1[[6, 2, 1], 50][[0, 0, 1], 50]Failed
regression consumed gems #1[[3, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10][[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]Failed
regression consumed gems #2[[21, 8, 2], 60][[9, 8, 2], 60]Failed
partial repair boundary #1[[6, 4, 4], 70][[0, 0, 4], 70]Failed
regression consumed gems #3[[8, 29, 24], 10][[6, 29, 24], 10]Failed
max tier untouched #1[[0, 6], 0][[0, 6], 0]Passed
control #1[[0, 8], 0][[0, 8], 0]Passed

SHA-256 / ac5243480ac7f60caa0cb6bf5efe9df50ddedc430ae560bfb39b303ec0402f4a

3 / The verified repair

Exit 0
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json

N = 1
observations = []
def solve(gems, max_tier, budget):
    g = list(gems)
    gold = 0
    for t in range(max_tier):
        price = (t + 1) * 10
        made = min(g[t] // 3, (budget - gold) // price)
        g[t] -= made * 3
        g[t + 1] += made
        gold += made * price
    return [g, gold]
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
cases = [[('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[4, 4, 3, 3, 9], 4, 29], [[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('partial repair boundary #1', [[9, 3, 2], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 4], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 60], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('partial repair boundary #1', [[9, 3, 2], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 4], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[4, 4, 3, 3, 9], 4, 29], [[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 60], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[0, 4, 7, 4], 3, 29], [[0, 1, 8, 4], 20]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[3, 9, 8, 3], 3, 60], [[0, 4, 10, 3], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[27, 2, 2], 2, 60], [[9, 8, 2], 60]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[9, 28, 24], 2, 10], [[6, 29, 24], 10]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 0], 1, 30], [[0, 0], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[9, 9, 2], 2, 10], [[6, 10, 2], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[4, 4, 0, 9, 8], 4, 60], [[1, 2, 1, 9, 8], 30]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[0, 4, 7, 4], 3, 29], [[0, 1, 8, 4], 20]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[3, 9, 8, 3], 3, 60], [[0, 4, 10, 3], 50]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 8], 1, 30], [[0, 8], 0])],
 [('budget stops second tier #1', [[9, 1, 0], 2, 30], [[0, 4, 0], 30]),
  ('two level cascade #1', [[9, 0, 0], 2, 1000], [[0, 0, 1], 50]),
  ('regression consumed gems #1', [[25, 26, 8, 0], 3, 10], [[22, 27, 8, 0], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #2', [[4, 2, 0, 3, 6], 4, 201], [[1, 0, 1, 0, 7], 70]),
  ('regression consumed gems #3', [[9, 9, 2], 2, 10], [[6, 10, 2], 10]),
  ('regression consumed gems #4', [[4, 4, 0, 9, 8], 4, 60], [[1, 2, 1, 9, 8], 30]),
  ('max tier untouched #1', [[0, 6], 1, 1000], [[0, 6], 0]),
  ('control #1', [[0, 3], 1, 1000], [[0, 3], 0])]]
for label, args, expected in cases[N-1]:
    check(label, solve(*args), expected)
print(json.dumps({"observations": observations, "passed": all(x["passed"] for x in observations)}, ensure_ascii=False))
raise SystemExit(0 if all(x["passed"] for x in observations) else 1)
Boundary fixtureActualExpectedOutcome
budget stops second tier #1[[0, 4, 0], 30][[0, 4, 0], 30]Passed
two level cascade #1[[0, 0, 1], 50][[0, 0, 1], 50]Passed
regression consumed gems #1[[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10][[1, 5, 3, 3, 9], 10]Passed
regression consumed gems #2[[9, 8, 2], 60][[9, 8, 2], 60]Passed
partial repair boundary #1[[0, 0, 4], 70][[0, 0, 4], 70]Passed
regression consumed gems #3[[6, 29, 24], 10][[6, 29, 24], 10]Passed
max tier untouched #1[[0, 6], 0][[0, 6], 0]Passed
control #1[[0, 8], 0][[0, 8], 0]Passed

SHA-256 / 835da9ff7339af12a76053ecb149848c51c2f77b96ee8f8d0b36489d5defda5e

Verification & scope

Deterministic toy contract stipulated for this model; integer or exact arithmetic only, not a reproduction of any specific game engine. This reproducer isolates one failure mechanism. Results cover the supplied fixtures. Variants within a family share a test contract and should remain grouped when constructing evaluation splits. Related mechanisms with a shared evaluation_group must also remain together; these controlled models are not independent production incidents.

Observations recorded using Python 3.12.14 at 2026-09-29T14:50:47.374904+00:00.

Case digest / 139ba311b1a122aeae0039d3accd9ffb1a063ec974f17add34f6b663e607728b