4324 npcs
one main character

the crowd

npcs stand in 23 levels, 529 on the first, one on the last. every spawn takes the next place, bottom up. the crowd is the whole collection: one contract, one face, 4324 npcs

spawn

a paid spawn costs the level price: 0.001 for the first 152, then 0.0005 more every 152, up to 0.01. a quarter goes to the dev, two fifths into the chest, the rest drops as loot into every npc that spawned before

a paid spawn can pick its npc from the queue of twenty, the next npcs are always on show

the line

every npc draws what it is worth: its chest share plus its loot, over the level price. at the shoulders it holds nothing, at mid height it is worth a fresh spawn, at the top twice that. it moves every time the crowd does

free spawn

one free npc every L1 block, first come, one per wallet, 1441 in all. a free npc is a full npc with the same face, it weighs half, and the free side together never holds more than a third of the money, so the free door never closes

lvl up

a free npc joins the paid side for half the level price. it keeps what it earned and earns as a paid npc from then on. same face, heavier

ragequit

any npc can leave the crowd at any time: burn it and take its chest share and its loot in the same transaction. nobody else has to agree, nothing waits for a date

the main character

#4324 is the last spawn and the only npc in colour. the top floor waits for whoever spawns it