Fuel
A consumable resource that vehicles, tools, or generators require to operate, depleting with use and demanding periodic resupply through gathering, crafting, or purchase. Death Stranding's vehicle battery management and Mad Max's fuel-scavenging across the wasteland both make fuel scarcity a driver of route planning and risk assessment — how far can you go before you're stranded? Designers use fuel systems to add resource pressure to otherwise-free traversal, to create meaningful stakes around vehicle use (running out mid-journey is a real setback), and to give exploration and scavenging a concrete purpose tied to mobility itself. Key decisions: consumption rate relative to travel distance (too punishing discourages vehicle use entirely; too lenient makes fuel decorative), refueling accessibility and cost, whether running dry strands the player completely or just slows them, and how fuel scarcity interacts with the broader survival or exploration loop. Pitfall: fuel systems that are punishing early but become trivial once the player stockpiles a large reserve lose their tension over time — scaling fuel costs or vehicle range with progression helps keep the resource meaningful throughout the game. For vehicles, per-distance fuel consumption turns range itself into the resource — route planning and refueling stops become the gameplay.
- Dev effort: Small
- Timing: Real-time or turn-based
- Common in: survival, open-world
Seen in
- Death Stranding
- Mad Max