History Main / UnstableEquilibrium

* In ''VideoGame/NewHorizons'', as players start out, they might find themself losing against same sized ships, due to gunners not hitting them, or getting killed in one or two hits during boarding actions, making acquiring money and ships very hard for beginners. However, once they start leveling up, gain better gear and perks to increase combat performances and make life easier, they will soon be able to fight entire fleets head-on, and steamrolling every crew that stands in their way. Money and EXP will just rain at this point.
If a nooby captain manage to capture a merchant ship through sheer skill (and luck), and happens to find a hold full of silver or gold, she/he is now set for the whole game.

** This is part of the archetypal Green Ramp deck. Play cards that give extra mana, use the extra mana to get more mana, repeat until you can drop enormously expensive things early in the game. The game designers have mentioned doing this deliberately, arguing that even being on the losing end of an Unstable Equilibrium is generally more fun and encouraging to a player than being involved in a game that has been forcibly stalled. It also helps the Green Ramp by design has intentional weaknesses that keep them from being invinsible (no flying creatures means damage can be blocked more easily, many of them dying to simple removal or counterspells), and naturally an attempt to circumvent those weaknesses would lead to a less efficient ramp.

** Not getting a good item on the first floor can make or break your entire run. It can make the difference between having enough time to make it to Boss Rush or ??? or getting held up by rooms of GoddamnedBats, and it can be the crucial thing that stops you from taking damage and getting those precious Devil and Angel Rooms. So much so that not only is "Holding R" now an ''official'' term for resetting your run until you get a good first-floor item drop, but doing this 7 times in a row gives the Mr. Resetrer! achievement and unlocks half Soul Hearts as a drop to reward (punish?) you for it.

For related concepts outside of video games, see DisasterDominoes (one mishap causes a chain of increasingly worse ones) and SnowballLie (a small lie becomes increasingly elaborate as more lies are invented to cover up its inconsistencies), and SnowballingThreat (a threat becomes increasingly more dangerous the longer it exists).

For related concepts outside of video games, see DisasterDominoes (one mishap causes a chain of increasingly worse ones) and SnowballLie (a small lie becomes larger and larger as more lies are invented to cover up its inconsistencies).

If this is happening as a storytelling device, see SnowballingThreat.

Unstable Equilibrium also happens readily in RealLife: for instance, those who make more money have more financial resources to draw on, which makes it significantly easier to increase income in the future.

* In games where [[EveryTenThousandPoints extra lives are awarded for reaching certain point milestones]], the players who are good enough to get these extra lives probably don't need them, while players who struggle with the game won't be able to earn them.

* ''VideoGame/ChoRenSha68K'' awards bonuses at the end of each stage: 20,000 points per bomb (up to 5 bombs for 100,000 points total), 50,000 points if you have a shield up, and 50,000 points for each life in stock. Staying alive and racking up points means you'll earn those [[EveryTenThousandPoints every-1,000,000-points lives]] much faster than if you keep fumbling, and those extra lives in turn will earn you more points. Additionally, dying resets your shot power back to minimum, meaning that a single life lost can begin a cascade of drawn-out boss battles, more mistakes, and a much lower score by the end of your credit.

Unstable Equilibria also happens readily in RealLife: for instance, those who make more money have more financial resources to draw on, which makes it significantly easier to increase income in the future.

For related concepts outside of video games, see DisasterDominoes (one mishap causes a chain of increasingly worse ones), SnowballLie (a small lie becomes larger and larger as more lies are invented to cover up its inconsistencies), and InSpiteOfANail (a small change to history has an increasingly large knock-on effect in the future).