Society Simulator
You saw how one agent builds trust. Now watch 12 agents with different strategies form alliances, betray each other, and self-organize — no central authority, just trust dynamics at society scale.
The Playground lets you tune one agent's parameters. This simulator shows what happens when many agents with different strategies interact.
Make real trust decisions · 34 achievements to unlock
How This Demonstrates Web4
Each agent has ATP (attention budget) and a Trust Tensor (reputation). Actions cost ATP. Cooperation builds trust. Defection may win short-term but gets isolated. Watch how trust-based economics create stable cooperation without moderators.
New to Web4? Start with First Contact — a 12-minute guided introduction.
The Core Question
Can a society of self-interested agents develop cooperation, trust, and social structure without any central authority? In Web4, the answer is yes — if trust is the fundamental currency. Click Run to watch it happen, or .
What to Watch For▸ Show phases
A typical simulation unfolds in phases. Here's what to look for:
Agents meet and form first impressions. Initial trust links appear in the network.
Watch: Who cooperates first?
Rounds 1–2
Cooperators cluster together. Reciprocators find reliable partners.
Watch: Colored groups forming
Rounds 2–3
Free riders get caught. Trust costs pile up for bad actors.
Watch: Agents losing connections
Rounds 3–4
The society stabilizes or collapses. Cooperation rate tells the story.
Watch: Final cooperation %
Final rounds
Most agents cooperate. Do defectors thrive or get isolated?
What Happens When You Click Run
12 agents spawn with different strategies — cooperators, defectors, reciprocators, and more. Each starts with equal ATP (energy) and zero trust.
Agents interact in pairs. Cooperators share ATP. Defectors steal. Trust scores start forming. Watch the network graph — lines appear as agents build relationships.
Agents who trust each other form coalitions — visible as clusters in the graph. Defectors start getting excluded. The wealth gap begins to shift.
Agents who ran out of ATP die and may be reborn. Coalitions strengthen or dissolve. The society's character emerges — cooperative, stratified, or chaotic.
Full narrative of what happened — character arcs, key moments, coalition dynamics. Compare different scenarios to see how strategy mix changes outcomes.
Animated mode: ~30 seconds · Instant mode: results in under a second
Strategies
- Cooperator: Always cooperates. Trusting but exploitable.
- Defector: Always defects. Short-term gains, long-term isolation.
- Reciprocator: Tit-for-tat. Mirrors what you did last time.
- Cautious: Only cooperates after trust is established.
- Adaptive: Cooperates in proportion to how much they trust you.
What to Watch For
- Coalition formation: Trust clusters emerge as cooperators find each other
- Defector isolation: Agents who exploit lose trust and get excluded
- Cooperation cascades: Once trust forms, cooperation accelerates
- Inequality: Does wealth (ATP) concentrate or distribute?
- Network density: How connected is the trust network?
Why This Matters
Web4 proposes that trust replaces authority as the organizing principle of digital societies. This simulator shows why that works:
- • Trust creates structure without permission
- • Exploiters get isolated without punishment
- • Cooperation emerges from self-interest
- • Karma ensures consequences persist across lifetimes
Beyond One Society
This simulator shows one community. In a real Web4 network, there are many communities — each with different specializations, ATP prices, and trust standards. When communities trade with each other, ATP prices adjust dynamically based on supply and demand. A community with many data analysts might value engineering skills more highly, while a research-focused community might pay a premium for practical builders.
Your reputation travels with you across communities (that's what makes trust portable), but each community weighs your Trust Tensor differently based on what they need.
Explore how communities trade and self-organize →What's Next?
Play as an agent inside a society. Your decisions shape your reputation, alliances, and survival.
Run single-agent simulations with custom settings. See how ATP, trust, and karma interact at a granular level.
Learn how verified presence, energy economics, trust tensors, and aliveness work together.