bolo'bolo

every ibu is alone. it builds a world to hide in.
the machine grinds on. but somewhere, people are
planting gardens and feeding strangers.

bolo'bolo

a modest utopia in idle time

Name your bolo:

use asa'pili language (bolo words first, english in brackets)

bolo'bolo

You are an ibu — a person — living under the Planetary Work Machine: a global system of wage labour, nation-states, and commodity exchange that controls nearly everything. You decide to withdraw from it.

You found a bolo — a self-sufficient community of roughly 300–500 people. Together you grow food (kodu), build tools and shelter (sibi), cultivate a cultural identity (nima), and offer hospitality to strangers (sila). Your reputation in the wider world is your munu.

Based on the 1983 anarchist utopian text bolo'bolo by P.M. The goal is not conquest. It is simply — quietly, persistently — to build something better.

founding: —

bolo'bolo

how to play — a field guide for the new ibu

setting

Based on the 1983 anarchist utopian text bolo'bolo by P.M. The goal is not conquest. It is simply — quietly, persistently — to build something better.

resources

These six resources form the foundation of your bolo. Watch them in the left panel.

resources

ibu (people)12

kodu (food)84 +1.4/s

sibi (tools)31

munu (reputation)47

sila (hospitality)18

what each resource does

ibu — each person increases your passive kodu rate. More ibu = faster growth, but more mouths to feed.

kodu — food. Spent on welcoming ibu, offering hospitality. Runs out = ibu leave.

sibi — tools and shelter. Spent on expanding farms and spreading reputation.

munu — reputation. Decays slowly. Required for exchange networks. The currency of trust.

sila — hospitality capacity. Travelers arrive automatically when sila ≥ 5, earning munu.

actions — how to play

Click the action buttons on the right. Each costs resources and produces effects. New actions unlock as you progress.

phase i — founding

farm the land (kodu)5 tools

build tools/shelter (sibi)20 food

welcome a person (ibu)15 food

offer hospitality (sila)10 food

spread reputation (munu)5 tools

phase ii — exchange (unlocked)

form exchange triangle (trico)30 rep

barter agreement (feno)20 rep

phase iii — organizing (unlocked)

form district (tega)5 trico

declare region (sumi)3 tega

establish world council (asa'dala)3 sumi

Greyed out buttons mean you lack the resources. Gold buttons are major structural moves. Actions unlock progressively — you won't see later options until you've earned them.

the region map

The 64-cell map shows the state of your region. The machine starts dominant. You gradually reclaim it.

region — 6 bolos, 3 free

●

◆

○

◌

■ yours ■ allied ■ trico
■ bandit ■ machine ■ free

what the cells mean

● yours — your founding bolo. Always present.

○ allied — bolos brought in by forming a tega (district).

◆ trico — bolos connected by exchange triangles.

◌ free — zones liberated from the machine entirely.

x bandit — predatory bolo. Raiding your food. Issue a yaka.

· machine — still under control. The machine's grip: 95% at start.

aim — the three phases

The game progresses through three phases. Each unlocks new actions and expands the scale of what's possible.

PHASE I — THE FOUNDING BOLO

Build your food supply, welcome ibu, offer hospitality to travelers. Unlock Phase II by hosting 3 travelers or accumulating 15 munu.

PHASE II — THE EXCHANGE NETWORK

Form trico exchange triangles between bolos. Establish feno barter agreements for passive bonuses. Unlock Phase III by forming 3 trico.

PHASE III — REGIONAL COOPERATION

Build tega districts (5 trico each), declare sumi regions (3 tega each), and ultimately establish the asa'dala — the world council — with 3 sumi. The machine's grip reaches zero. bolo'bolo.

the machine — your pressure gauge

grip on your region62%

weakening

Starts at 95%. Every trico, tega, and sumi reduces it. Below 30%, it fights back — reclaiming free cells. Reach 0% to win.

dangers

Things will go wrong. Watch the Dispatches panel — all warnings appear there in red.

example dispatches

[142] ⚠ Food runs out. An ibu drifts away.

[380] ⚠ A bandit-bolo emerges. They are raiding your food stores.

[512] ⚠ Bad harvest — blight in the fields. Food production falls sharply.

[614] The kodu recovers. Normal production resumes.

[890] ⚠ The machine reasserts itself — 2 zones reclaimed.

[1102] The bandit-bolo dissolves. Predation proved unprofitable.

kodu shortage

If food hits zero, ibu begin leaving — one every 6 seconds. The kodu bar turns red. Farm immediately.

ibu drift

When kodu is very low (below 10% of capacity), ibu occasionally slip away even before you hit zero. An early warning.

bandit-bolo

Appear in Phase II onward. Drain your food continuously. Issue a yaka (challenge) — costs 10 munu — and they dissolve within seconds. Don't ignore them.

bad harvest

Food production drops to 40% for ~40 seconds. A periodic event — possible from Phase II onward.

traveler trouble

A difficult guest drains ~8% of your food and strains hospitality. Manageable but inconvenient.

ibu split

Internal disagreement over nima (cultural identity). Lose 1–2 ibu and some munu. Rebuild reputation to stabilise.

machine counter-offensive

Once machine grip drops below 30%, it begins reclaiming free zones. Keep building trico and tega to overwhelm it.

sumi secession

In Phase III, a declared region may threaten to defect back to the machine. Drains munu slowly. If munu runs out, you lose the sumi and the machine's grip rises sharply.

nima — choosing your identity

Your nima is your bolo's cultural character. Chosen at the start, it shapes your playstyle throughout.

production nimas

Agro-bolo — kodu rate ×2. Easiest start.

Craft-bolo — sibi rate ×2. Tools accumulate fast.

Eco-bolo — larger kodu cap. Slower but resilient.

Tao-bolo — passive auto kodu. Low-intervention.

social nimas

Anarcho-bolo — munu ×2. Exchange networks fastest.

Franko-bolo — sila ×3. Traveler magnet.

Hash-bolo — travelers ×2. Extra gifts from guests.

Dada-bolo — random bonuses. Chaotic but surprising.

achievement — asa'dala

The game is won when you establish the asa'dala — the planetary assembly. This requires 3 sumi (regions), each requiring 3 tega (districts), each requiring 5 trico (exchange triangles).

✦ ASA'DALA ✦

The machine grip reaches zero.
Every cell on the map turns free.
The log reads: "What now?"

"What now?" is the only question worth asking.

There is no score. There is no leaderboard. The machine simply ceases to exist, and the ibu continue their lives. This is not a triumph. It is an ordinary day in a world that chose differently.

bolo'bolo / — — PHASE I — THE FOUNDING BOLO

current goal

Tend the land to grow food. Welcome others to your bolo.

resources

ibu (people)5

kodu (food) 20 +0.5/s

dispatches from the bolo

the ibu tend their kodu. the machine hums in the distance.

actions

subsistence