Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

SDG 9 is the technology-axis of Watts and Wealth. A substantial subset of the 33 Policy cards are tech-flavored breakthroughs that upgrade the player’s capabilities and shift the cost structure of subsequent decisions.

Mechanic-level grounding

The deck’s technology layer is split across Event and Policy cards — discriminated by effect and flavor rather than by a dedicated tech subtype. Tech-flavored cards are spread across eras — Steam_Engine_Breakthrough unlocks as an era-1 Event, Silicon_Valley_Startup as an era-1 Event, Nuclear_Fusion and Perovskite_Solar_Breakthrough as era-3 Policies, Direct_Air_Capture as an era-4 Policy.

The era spread across the deck teaches the path dependency of innovation — coal-era breakthroughs land first, fusion and air capture arrive later, mirroring the real-world cadence of energy R&D.

Card-level grounding

• Steam_Engine_Breakthrough — era-1 Event, permanently adds one energy output to every coal mine the player owns. Models the historical lock-in moment of the Industrial Revolution.
• Silicon_Valley_Startup — era-1 Event, makes the next tech card purchase free. Models the post-1980 tech-platform economy as an acceleration of subsequent R&D investment.
• Blockchain — era-2 Policy, grants immunity to theft. Models the decentralised-trust framing of distributed-ledger energy trading.
• Nuclear_Fusion — era-3 Policy (costs 20 tokens), adds three energy output to each nuclear plant the player owns. Models the always-thirty-years-away nature of commercial fusion as a late-game high-payoff lever.
• Perovskite_Solar_Breakthrough — era-3 Policy, raises solar facility tolls by three tokens. A solar-revenue uplift that rewards solar holders specifically.
• Direct_Air_Capture and Carbon_Capture_System — negative-emissions interventions: Direct_Air_Capture cuts ten from global pollution as a one-shot; Carbon_Capture_System reduces pollution by one per facility.
• Smart_Grid_System, Microgrids, Decentralized_Grid — infrastructure-modernisation Policies. Smart_Grid_System adds one energy across all facilities; Microgrids grants immunity to grid blackouts, cyberattacks, solar storms, and wildfires; Decentralized_Grid grants immunity to energy theft.

Why this is secondary

SDG 9 also covers industrialization (9.2), small enterprise finance (9.3), and infrastructure resilience (9.1), which the game touches but does not centrally model. The game’s tech-card layer is best read as supporting evidence for SDG 9.5 (enhance scientific research and upgrade technological capabilities) and 9.b (support domestic technology development) within energy specifically.