The engine
Rules & formulas
Every number the tower runs on — altitude permanence, the growth cap, burial mechanics, and the season reset.
Constants
DOUBLE_EVERY_K = 500 # thousand views per rate doubling
MAX_GROWTH = 8 # hard cap on growth multiplier
R0 = 1.0 # metres per dollar at season start
G0 = 0.65 # ground metres at season start (tuned for ~1.5M view burial)
MIN_ENTRY_USD = $5.00
MIN_SPEND_USD = $2.00
SEASON_DAYS = 90 # season length
CEIL_PER_HOUR = 40,000 # qualified view ceiling per hour
Growth & rate
V = cumulative qualified views (thousands)
λ = ln(2) / DOUBLE_EVERY_K
growth = min( exp(λ · V), MAX_GROWTH ) ← capped at 8 (non-negotiable)
rate = R0 · growth # metres per dollar
ground = G0 · growth # burial threshold (m)
Altitude (payments)
metres = dollars · rate # altitude added per dollar
altitude += metres # additive only; never decreases
Altitude is monotonically increasing. No code path can decrease it. The database has a CHECK constraint enforcing altitude ≥ 0.
Burial & amber edge
buried = altitude < ground
clearance = altitude − ground
amber_edge = clearance < 1.6 · ground # warning zone
Buried blocks remain in the tower and are still clickable, but they're greyed out. A $5 entry at season start stays above ground for approximately 1.5 million views.
Pricing a climb
target_alt = altitude_of_target_rank · 1.02
delta = target_alt − my_altitude
cost = max(delta / rate, MIN_SPEND_USD)
The 2% buffer means you beat the target block by a small margin. Positions are live; your rank is calculated when payment completes.
Season reset (90 days)
Each season runs for 90 days. At rollover:
- The current tower is archived to a permanent standings page
- V resets to 0 (rate drops back to R0 = $1 = 1m)
- New blocks start at altitude 0
- Record pages at /b/[slug] remain permanent and show all seasons
- The exchange rate caps, holds, then resets — creating a recurring launch moment
Qualified view definition
A qualified view is one server-rendered homepage load that passes:
- Not a known bot or headless browser
- Session not counted in the last 30 minutes (per cookie)
- IP not exceeding 20 views per hour
- Global ceiling not exceeded (max 40,000 credits per hour)
View counting is server-side only. No client beacons.