bigtech.sucks — Draw the Line

V0.1 scaffold per master spec. A retro frontier game that scopes Big Tech exposure and sequences the off-ramp.

Structure

packages/
  core/     Render-agnostic game logic, seed data, scoring
  core/db/  The living database: schema, seeds, build + verify
  web/      React + Vite SPA (V1 funnel)
  server/   Minimal waitlist API (email + channel only)

The living database

The database is the source of truth. The site is a view over it. Nothing in the UI may hardcode a number that lives in bigtech.db.

npm run db:build     # rebuild the db, apply seeds, verify, regenerate the catalog
npm run db:verify    # run the instrument's own checks against the existing db

packages/core/db/bigtech.db is built, not committed. What is committed is the part that matters: db/schema.sql, db/seed/*.sql, and db/build.mjs.

The build refuses to pass if a score breaks the instrument's own rules:

dimension weights must sum to 100
every stored weighted_total must recompute from its scores
every grade must match its band
every score must carry a written rationale
no tier-4 claim may attach to a scored dimension
the reproducible-build caps are enforced, not documented: no reproducible build caps verifiability at 3, an experimental one at 6

A product with no assessment surfaces as unassessed. It is never given a guessed number. That is why the 43 legacy roster entries sit in the database as placeholders and exactly one product carries a real score.

Adding an assessment

Write packages/core/db/seed/000N-<slug>.sql using the shape in 0001-signal.sql.
Every score needs a rationale and at least three tier-1 or tier-2 evidence rows.
npm run db:build. If it fails, the report is not ready to publish.

What the numbers mean

See the instrument spec. Scores are 0 to 100, and a weighted average is not the headline: the weakest dimension is, because a 90 with a 5 on local data exposure is a 90 that will leak.

Quick start

npm install
npm run build -w @bigtech-sucks/core
npm run dev          # web on :5173
npm run dev:server   # waitlist API on :3001

V1 flow

Welcome → Meet Red → Draw the Line → Overworld → Showdown → Homestead → Reveal (Binary Ranch) → Waitlist

Governance

Creative assets are candidates — director approval required before ship
Company name revealed only at homestead/reveal phase
§13 open decisions are not silently resolved (see packages/core/src/data/config.ts)
Client-side sovereignty report; server stores waitlist fields only

Roadmap

V1.5: Terminal/SSH render (Go + Charm)
V2: Concierge migration, journey chronicle, physical fulfillment (stubs in v2-stubs.ts)

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