# A hand-drawn game of trust

> An illustrated learning game introduces trust through a character network, then presents two players beside a coin machine and asks the user to choose between cheating and cooperating.

- Kind: Game
- Live game: https://ncase.me/trust/
- Page: https://meetreference.com/v/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/
- Ready-to-use agent handoff: https://meetreference.com/v/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/agent.txt
- Authorship: Not stated
- Made with: Not stated
- Model: not stated
- Built with: not stated
- Style: Games; hand-drawn, educational, minimalist, monochrome, character-led, diagrammatic
- Preview: a flip-through of inspected screenshots; open the live work to experience its motion and interactions.
- Shared by Nicky Case in Website: https://ncase.me/trust/
- Prompt fidelity: Unavailable in this entry. The recreation brief is written by Reference.

## Before you start

Guidance from Reference, separate from the creator's instructions.

1. Read the reference and inspect the project, installed libraries, and available agent skills before writing code. Reuse suitable tools already present.
2. Prefer the creator-reported libraries and skills when they fit the task. Explain what useful additions help with, and install missing project dependencies or relevant skills from official sources when the environment and the user's existing permissions allow it. Respect the project's package manager and setup rules; do not ask again for routine setup already authorized.
3. Distinguish tools used by the creator from your own recommendations. A listed tool is not automatically required, and an empty tools or requirements list means the setup is unknown, not that nothing is needed.
4. Ask concise questions when missing inputs or choices materially affect the result: paid services, credentials, the user's assets, or a different production approach. Use existing answers and permissions; continue independent work while waiting.
5. If a useful library, skill, or service cannot be installed or used, explain an available alternative and its expected effect on quality, features, or effort. Get the user's choice before a material compromise; otherwise state the fallback and continue. Never silently simplify the result or claim to have used a tool you did not use.

## Recreating this game

This is a visual reference. No original creator prompt is available. The following brief was written by Reference after inspecting the work.

Use a consistent irregular stroke across characters, diagrams, buttons, and lettering to make instruction and interaction feel like one illustrated system. Frame introductory text with a low-contrast network, then simplify the playable scene to two color-coded actors and one central mechanism. For a new subject, replace the coin exchange and trust choices with its own concrete decision model while retaining the explanation–diagram–action hierarchy.

1. Open the live work or source and inspect the frame images below.
2. Adapt its layout, hierarchy, palette, and interaction patterns to the user's own content and brand.
3. Compare the result against the reference. Use your own assets and credit the original creator.

## What it looks like

Written by Reference from the captured walkthrough frames, not by the creator.

Minimal, playful web-game design with simple cartoon characters and light line-art details.

- Color: Mostly white with charcoal text and controls, pale gray illustrations, and small red and blue character accents.
- Type: Small, clean sans-serif text; compact labels and button text.
- Framing: Content is centered on a white page. The introduction is surrounded by scattered character drawings; the game screen places two characters on either side of a central machine, with choice buttons below.
- Structure: The frames show a sparse introductory view, an explanatory text panel with a “Let’s play a game” button, and a game setup explaining the choice between CHEAT and COOPERATE. A dark control bar with an ON indicator, navigation dots, and social icons runs along the bottom.

Storyboard, nine frames spread across the captured walkthrough: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/storyboard.webp

- Frame 1 at 1.0s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f1.webp
- Frame 2 at 2.9s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f2.webp
- Frame 3 at 4.9s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f3.webp
- Frame 4 at 6.8s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f4.webp
- Frame 5 at 8.7s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f5.webp
- Frame 6 at 10.7s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f6.webp
- Frame 7 at 12.6s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f7.webp
- Frame 8 at 14.6s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f8.webp
- Frame 9 at 16.5s: https://meetreference.com/media/ref-the-evolution-of-trust-48db/f9.webp

## Links

- Play game: https://ncase.me/trust/
- Original post: https://ncase.me/trust/
- Source and design credit: https://ncase.me/trust/