Overview
Purpose
Play the Planet (PtP) is a real-world coordination game designed to address systemic community failures—poverty, food insecurity, infrastructure decay, and social fragmentation—through structured cooperation. It operates like an MMORPG layered onto physical reality: players complete real acts of service in their communities, earn reputation and economic credits, and unlock increasing levels of agency and influence.
The game is not symbolic. It produces measurable outcomes.
Core Quest Types
- Skill-Building Quests
Demonstrate or acquire specific skills.
Reward: XP only. - Acts of Service Quests
Perform verified work that materially benefits another person or the community.
Rewards: XP and Ghost Net Credits (Gc).
Ghost Net Credits (Gc)
Gc are not a speculative currency. They are a labor valuation system, indexed to local cost of living.
Key properties:
- Companion Economy
Gc do not replace USD. They operate alongside it, stepping in where the dollar economy fails or excludes participants. - Local Valuation
Gc are indexed to regional cost-of-living data.
Baseline: 1 Gc = 1 hour of socially verified labor
Current implementation: Valued in USD-equivalent terms for transparency and accounting. - Circulation-Oriented Design
Inspired by the Wörgl experiment, Gc are intended to move, not accumulate. Long-term storage is discouraged via demurrage (introduced only after system stabilization). - Real-World Purchasing Power
Gc may be used to acquire essential goods and services (food, labor, transport, repairs), especially where USD access is constrained.
Core Concepts
Holon Structure
A Holon is a geographically bounded operational unit—typically a county in the U.S.—that functions as a semi-autonomous node in the PtP network.
A mature Holon aims to achieve:
- Functional elimination of involuntary homelessness
- Functional elimination of food insecurity
- ≥50% local energy production
- ≥50% local manufacturing or production capacity
- Resilient social infrastructure and mutual aid networks
- Full population coverage via mesh or redundant communication networks
Holons are measured continuously, not aspirationally.
The Virtue Engine
The Virtue Engine governs all resource flows in PtP.
- Resources only flow to players who serve others
- Power, reputation, and economic agency are downstream effects of contribution
- Leadership emerges from demonstrated service, not accumulation
There are no passive income paths divorced from community benefit.
Key Systems
Quest System
Quests fall into seven operational categories:
- Agronomy
- Archival
- Commerce
- Energy
- Production
- Social
- Transport
Each quest defines:
- Required action
- Verification method
- Impact scope
- Reward envelope
Community Rating System
Acts of Service are peer-rated on a 1–5 star scale.
Ratings feed into a Weighted Influence Score (WIS), derived from:
- R — Average rating
- N — Number of completed interactions
- M — Tiered multiplier reflecting both quality and scale
High-WIS players gain expanded permissions, moderation authority, and governance influence.
Redemption paths exist for players with damaged reputations.
Magic Items
Magic Items are earned, never purchased.
They confer bounded, system-visible effects and are always tied to service.
Examples:
- Horn of Plenty — Periodic Gc issuance tied to sustained contribution
- Seed Vault — Access to shared agricultural resources for food resilience
All Magic Items are auditable and revocable.
Membership Model
- Free Tier
Full access to the Virtue Engine, quests, and voting on system priorities. - Supporting Tier ($4.95/month)
Ability to propose new initiatives for inclusion in monthly priority cycles, subject to governance review to ensure alignment with PtP principles.
There is no pay-to-win mechanic.
Economic Intelligence Layer
Each Holon maintains a live economic dashboard, automatically updated from authoritative public data sources.
Tracked inputs include:
- Unemployment rate
- Median and mean income
- Cost of living (regional price parity)
- Food insecurity indicators
Derived metrics interpret—not replace—raw data, providing context about:
- Income compression
- Living wage coverage
- Labor slack
- Aggregate economic stress
As the Gc economy matures, Gc circulation, velocity, and impact metrics will be incorporated to measure real economic lift produced by the system.
Verification & Automation
- Quests require documentary evidence (photos, logs, attestations)
- Verification is increasingly automated
- AI-assisted review supports scale without removing human accountability
Fraud resistance is structural, not trust-based.
Historical Inspiration
The Wörgl Experiment (1932) demonstrated that demurrage-based local currencies dramatically increase economic activity during periods of scarcity.
Play the Planet modernizes this insight using:
- Digital verification
- Distributed coordination
- Transparent metrics
- Modular governance
Current Status & Next Steps
Pilot Holon: Russell County, Virginia
Focus areas:
- Dashboard refinement
- Economic modeling
- Governance stress-testing
- Gradual onboarding of additional players and roles
Future work includes:
- Expanded Gc analytics
- Inter-Holon coordination
- Fail-soft consensus mechanisms
- Public research publication of findings
Concluding Vision
Play the Planet is not a game about escape.
It is a game about repair.
By turning service into status, labor into agency, and cooperation into power, PtP offers a scalable framework for communities to rebuild themselves—locally first, then globally—using the same instincts that already drive people to play, collaborate, and compete.