Reduced Resource Cost

In certain video games, crafting or upgrading items, units, or buildings requires resources. Obtaining said resources may be a time-consuming tasks depending on quantity or rarity, so there are methods to mitigate these issues.

Types Include:

Cost reduction.
More items crafted with the same number of resources.
Discounts on the Experience Points cost in a Point Build System or general level-up mechanic.
Shorter duration for crafting or upgrading.
Resource Reimbursement

Compare with Reduced Mana Cost in regards to Mana Meter, Discount Card for reduction in shop prices, and Discard and Draw for those cases where you obtain a discount at the expense of a disadvantage (i.e. you get cheaper units but these get poor stats in exchange). Contrast Experience Booster when more experience points are gained for leveling up.

Examples:

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Board Games

7 Wonders and 7 Wonders Duel:
- Many buildings are "chained" — you can play a building without paying its resource cost if you have the previous building in the chain.
- In the original game, you can buy extra resources from opponents at 2 coins apiece. Some effects reduce the cost to 1 coin. In Duel, extra resources are bought from the bank and cost 2 + (how many of it your opponent has) each. However, there are yellow buildings that set their cost to a flat 1 coin. The Expansion Pack Agora also has two decrees that decrease the cost of extra resources by 1 (but does not stack with the yellow buildings) — one affects raw resources and one affects refined resources.
- Duel's Expansion Pack Agora has a series of decrees that take card of one color and decrease their costs by any 1 symbol. This includes coin costs.
- The Progress Tokens "Masonry" and "Architecture" gives you a 2-resource discount on respectively blue buildings and Wonders. The "Corruption" Progress Token in Agora lets you play politicians for free.
Abyss:
- As long as you control the Treasurer and it remains outside of a location, the cost of recruiting lords is reduced by 2 for you. You still have to respect the color requirement, however.
- When you recruit the Corruptor, you can pay 5 pearls to recruit another lord for free.
- When you recruit the Traitor, you may discard another free lord to play a lord for free.
Dead of Winter: Melissa Gupta the mechanical engineer has the special ability to advance the construction of Colony improvements for free, rather than spending scarce item cards.
In the city-building game Everdell, cost reduction is an important part of Resources Management Gameplay:
- Each Construction card is associated with a Critter card, like the Inn and Innkeeper. When a Construction is played, it negates the cost to play one copy of the associated Critter (though the player still has to draw or obtain the Critter card normally).
- After a Crane has been built, it can be discarded to reduce the cost of a new Construction by three resources of any type(s). The Innkeeper does the same for playing new Critters.
- Some cards (such as the courthouse) provide a post-purchase benefit of one resource after building a construction. The initial investment is still necessary, but can be used to reduce the net cost.
Race For The Galaxy has the Investment Credits development card, which reduces by 1 the cost of future developments.
Res Arcana has many cards that let you play other cards at a discount that can decrease any essence costs, with the exception of gold and pearl costs:
- The Artificer is the only mage without a tap ability, but he passively lets you play all your artifacts at a 1-essence discount.
- The Crypt and Ghost Ship let you play a card from your discard pile at a 2-essence discount.
- Dragons are expensive, but there are many ways to play them at a discount: The Dragon's Lair and the Dragon Bridle passively decrease their cost by 3 essences each. The Dragon Teeth artifact lets you tap it and discard 3 Elan to play any dragon (except for the extremely expensive Ancient Dragon, which has an Obvious Rule Patch forbidding it) for free. The Dragon Tamer can be tapped to let you play one at a 2-essence discount. Many of these cards also have other Dragon synergies.
- The Mystical Menagerie gives you a 1-essence discount on Creatures.
- The Homunculus is a Demon that lets you play other Demons at a 2-essence discount. Notably, this can negate gold costs, which matters for the otherwise-expensive-for-what-it-is Possessed Demon Slayer.
In Splendor, this is a core gameplay mechanic. Each development card costs gems to play (rubies, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and/or onyx) but reduces all of the player's subsequent purchase costs by one gem of a specific type. This is also true for most cards in the 2-player spin-off Splendor Duel, though it also has wildcards that can be designated as any type you already have when you buy them, and a few cards that don't offer any discounts (but are worth more points to compensate).

Collectible Card Game

Magic: The Gathering has many cards that can discount your spells, or flat-out let you play them for free.
In Disney Lorcana, several cards reduce the amount of ink that you pay for your next card with Amber specializing in these such as Birthday Lantern and Go the Distance.

Tabletop RPG

Ars Magica: Magi of House Verditius excel in mundane and magical Item Crafting to the point of Crippling Overspecialization. Enchantments always require a precious magical resource called vis, but when a Verditius magus enchants an object of their own creation, their Craft ability score (e.g.: Goldsmithing for a Magic Ring) is deducted from the vis cost, to a minimum of one point.
Chronicles of Darkness:
- Changeling: The Lost: As an Oathbound Power, members of the Office of Vizieral Counsel can learn new Contracts at half their usual XP cost or even less, so long as it will help their duties as The Good Chancellor and Court Mage.
- Mage: The Awakening:
  - "Platonic exemplars" are rare, perfect versions of ordinary objects that are highly prized for Item Crafting. Rather than a permanent Willpower dot, it costs only a bit of Mana to imbue a spell into one, so long as the spell aligns with the object's function.
  - Mages with access to a Scriptorium, a specialized Magical Library, can learn rote spells from it at half the usual XP cost.
  - As Magical Society's most dedicated lorekeepers, members of the Mysterium can build an improved Magical Library called an Athenaeum. Each point of Athenaeum provides two points towards Library, Laboratory, or Scriptorium.
- Vampire: The Requiem:
  - The resources and connections of some vampire Covenants give their members a 50% XP discount on some Merits. Carthian revolutionaries get it for Allies, Contacts, Herd, and Haven. The Invictus, the undead Blue Blood, get it for Herd, Mentor, Resources, and Retainer.
  - The En Bloodline can learn to create new vampires by spending temporary Willpower points in place of permanent Willpower dots, courtesy of the demonic spirits that infect their souls.
- Werewolf: The Forsaken: As a membership benefit, some werewolf Lodges grant an XP discount to learn skills that support their core mission. Garmir warriors get the discount on Athletics, Brawl, Weaponry, and Persuasion; Crows get it for Larceny, Stealth, Politics, Persuasion, and Subterfuge.
- If a character travels to The Underworld and finds a ghost to train them, the spiritual nature of the place reduces the XP cost of improving an ability by one per new point.
Fabula Ultima:
- Tinkerers can initiate long-term Projects where they build complex custom magitech devices. Projects usually have a monetary cost proportional to how powerful the invention is meant to be, how large of an area it can affect, and its intended duration, and the more expensive it is, the more time it will take to develop it. The Visionary class skill shaves up to 500 zenit off the Project's cost and speeds up development time by generating extra Progress each day that the Project is worked on.
- The Deep Pockets heroic skill, which can be obtained by mastering the Tinkerer class, reduces the IP cost of any action which requires the spending of Inventory Points by 1 (to a minimum of 1).
- Any creature marked with a Symbolist's Symbol of Creation can sacrifice the symbol to negate the IP cost of a single action during a conflict.
The One Ring: If an adventurer gets the privilege of studying with certain renowned tutors, they can improve that skill at half the usual XP cost — Lore from Saruman, Lore or Travel from Gandalf, or Craft from a Master of Erebor.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The inventor of a magical Ritual doesn't need to spend XP to learn it. Given the cost in time, effort, physical resources, and risk of personal harm to achieve such a feat, the sourcebook acknowledges that it's a small mercy.

Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO)

Fallout 76: Several of the perk cards reduce crafting and repair costs - Super Duper in particular gives you a 30% chance to get 2 of the item you're crafting instead of just one. The game also has repair kits that can be bought for real money which has earned some Play-To-Win criticism, but these kits are inferior to those that can be obtained by defeating the three nuke bosses (Scorchbeast Queen, Ultracite Titan or "Earl", a Wendigo Colossus).

Real-Time Strategy

Age of Empires: Certain civilizations have discount bonus to specific unit types, buildings, and technologies to emphasizing their strengths and specialization. For example, the Goths have cheaper infantry to emphasizing flooding the map with a horde of infantry, while the Gurjanas (formerly Indian) have cheaper villagers to emphasizing booming their economy.
- Age of Empires I:
  - The Market tech "Coinage" removes the tax cost for all Tributes to other players.
  - Rise of Rome introduced the Government Center tech "Logistics" (available to everyone except Palmyrans) which halves the population cost of the units trained at the Barracks vuilding.
  - Greeks: Their Academy units cost -20% in Definitive Edition.
  - Minoans: Their ships cost -30%.
  - Phoenicians: Their Elephants cost -25%.
  - Egyptians: Their Farms cost -20%.
  - Babylonians: Their Market techs cost -50% since Definitive Edition update 38862.
  - Shang: Villagers cost 40 food rather than 50. As a countermeasure, they start the game with -40 food.
  - Choson: Their Storage Pit techs cost -40% since Definitive Edition update 38862. Their Priests cost -32% (though the Changelog states -30%).
  - Yamato: All Cavalry units as well as the Archery Range's Horse Archer cost -15%. It used to be originally -30%, then Rise of Rome reduced the bonus to -25%, then Definitive Edition reduced it further to -20% before update 28862 settled in -15%.
  - Romans (Rise of Rome): Their Buildings cost -10%. It used to be -15% before Definitive Edition's Content Update 9. Their Towers cost -40%. It used to be -50% prior to Definitive Edition update 38862.
  - Macedonians (Rise of Rome): Their Siege Workshop units cost -25%. It used to be -50% prior to Definitive Edition.
  - Palmyrans (Rise of Rome): They receive the benefits of the Coinage tech (makes Tributes tax-free) for free.
- Age of Empires II:
  - The Market techs "Coinage" and "Banking" reduce the cost of the tributes towards other players/factions first from 30% to 20% and then from 20% to 0%. The tech "Guilds" reduce the tax created by exchanging resources (food for gold, wood for gold, and vice versa) from 30% to 15%.
  - Britons: Their Town Centers cost -50% wood in the Castle and Imperial Ages.
  - Byzantines: Their Camel Rider, Spearmen, and Skirmisher lines are 25% cheaper, and advancing to the Imperial Age is 33% cheaper for them. They also get Town Watch and Town Patrol for free.
  - Chinese: Their techs are 10% cheaper in the Feudal Age, 15% cheaper in the Castle Age, and 20% cheaper in the Imperial Age.
  - Franks: Their Mill upgrades are free and their castles are 25% cheaper.
  - Goths: Their Infantry units are 20% cheaper in the Dark Age, 25% cheaper in the Feudal Age, 30% cheaper in the Castle Age, and 35% cheaper in the Imperial Age.
  - Japanese: Their Mills, Lumber Camps, and Mining Camps are 50% cheaper.
  - Saracens: Their Markets cost 75 wood. Their usual cost is 175 wood.
  - Teutons: They get "Murder Holes" and "Herbal Medicine" for free, and their Farms are 40% cheaper.
  - Turks: They get the "Chemistry", "Light Cavalry" and "Hussar" upgrades for free.
  - Vikings: They get the "Wheelbarrow" and "Hand Cart" upgrades free, their Naval units cost 15% cheaper in the Feudal Age, 15% cheaper in the Castle Age, and 20% cheaper in the Imperial Age. Plus, them and their teammates' Docks are 15% cheaper.
  - Huns (The Conquerors): Their Cavalry Archers are 15% cheaper in the Castle Age and 20% cheaper in the Imperial Age.
  - Koreans (The Conquerors): Their Tower and Archer armor upgrades are free, though "Bombard Tower" still requires "Chemistry", and their non-Siege Military units cost -20% wood.
  - Mayans (The Conquerors): Their non-Skirmisher foot archers are 10% cheaper in the Feudal Age, 20% cheaper in the Castle Age, and 30% cheaper in the Imperial Age.
  - Spanish (The Conquerors): Their Blacksmith upgrades cost no gold.
  - Incas (The Forgotten): Their buildings cost -15% stone.
  - Italians (The Forgotten): Their Age advancements and Fishing Ships are 15% cheaper, their Dock and University techs are 33% cheaper and their Imperial Age unique tech "Silk Road" reduces the cost of Trade Carts and Trade Cogs by -50%.
  - Magyars (The Forgotten): They get "Forging", "Iron Casting" and "Blast Furnace" for free, their Scout Cavalry line is 15% cheaper, and their Castle Age unique tech "Corvinian Army" removes the gold cost for their Magyar Huszars.
  - Slavs (The Forgotten): They get the "Supplies" tech for free, and their Siege Workshop units are 15% cheaper.
  - Berbers (The African Kingdoms): Their Stable units are 10% cheaper in the Castle Age and 15% cheaper in the Imperial Age.
  - Ethiopians (The African Kingdoms): Their Pikemen line upgrades are free.
  - Malians (The African Kingdoms): Their non-Farm Buildings cost -15% wood.
  - Portuguese (The African Kingdoms): All their units cost -20% gold.
  - Burmese (Rise of the Rajas): Their Lumber Camp techs are free, and their Monastery techs are 50% cheaper.
  - Malay (Rise of the Rajas): Their Fish Traps are 33% cheaper and their Battle Elephants are 30% cheaper in the Castle Age and 40% cheaper in the Imperial Age.
  - Vietnamese (Rise of the Rajas): Their economic upgrades cost no wood, and they get the "Conscription" tech for free.
  - Bulgarians (Definitive Edition): The upgrades for their Militia line are free, their Town Centers cost -50% stone, and their Blacksmith and Siege Worskhop upgrades cost -50% food.
  - Cumans (Definitive Edition): Their Archery Ranges and Stables cost only 100 wood. (They usually cost 175 each)
  - Tatars (Definitive Edition): They get "Thumb Ring" and "Parthian Tactics" for free.
  - Burgundians (Lords of the West): Their economic upgrades, in addition to being available an Age earlier and cost -40% food, and their Stables techs are 50% cheaper.
  - Bohemians (Dawn of the Dukes): Their Blacksmiths and Universities cost -100 wood and their Mining Camp techs are free.
  - Poles (Dawn of the Dukes): Their Castle Age unique tech "Szlachta Privileges" reduces the gold cost of the Knight line by -60%.
  - Bengalis (Dynasties of India): Their Imperial Age tech "Mahayanas" makes Villagers take -10% of population space.
  - Dravidians (Dynasties of India): Their Barracks techs cost 50% cheaper.
  - Gurjaras (Dynasties of India): Their Castle Age unique tech "Kshatriyas" reduces the food cost for military unit training by 25%.
  - Hindustanis (Dynasties of India): Their Villagers are 10% cheaper in the Dark Age, 15% cheaper in the Feudal Age, 20% cheaper in the Castle Age, and 25% cheaper in the Imperial Age.
Age of Mythology:
- The Market tech "Ambassadors" removes the 10% penalty for interplayer tributes and "Tax Collectors" reduces the fee for resource exchange in the Market from 30% to 15%.
- Greeks:
  - Poseidon-worshiping Greeks benefit from cheaper Cavalry units (-10% cost), cheaper Stables (-15% cost), and cheaper Market usage (-10%).
  - Worshiping the minor Classical Age god Athena (available to Zeus- and Hades-worshiping Greeks) unlocks the tech "Labyrinth of Minos", which reduces the food cost for Minotaurs by 25%.
  - Worshiping the minor Classical Age god Hermes (available to Zeus- and Poseidon-worshiping Greeks) unlocks the tech "Winged Messenger", which eliminates the food cost of the Pegasus.
  - Worshiping the minor Mythic Age god Hephaestus (available to all Greek factions) unlocks the tech "Forge of Olympus", which reduces the food, wood and gold cost of the Armory techs by 75%.
- Egyptians:
  - Ra-worshiping Egyptians get a -25% cost discount on Monuments.
  - Isis-worshiping Egyptians get a -10% food, wood and gold cost discount on all techs, and their Priests have a -33% cost discount (used to be 66.7% prior to patch 1.02).
  - Set-worshiping Egyptians get a -25% gold discount on Migdol Strongholds (the civ's equivalent to Stables).
  - Worshiping the minor Classical Age god Ptah (available to Ra- and Set-worshiping Egyptians) unlocks the tech "Shaduf", which decreases the cost for Farms by 33%.
  - Worshiping the minor Heroic Age god Hathor (available to Ra- and Isis-worshiping Egyptians) unlocks the tech "Sundried Mudbrick", which decreases the food, wood, and gold cost of buildings by 15%.
  - Worshiping the minor Heroic Age god Nephthys (available to Isis- and Set-worshiping Egyptians) unlocks the tech "Spirit of Ma'at", which decreases the cost of Priests by 20%.
- Norse:
  - Thor-worshiping Norses get a 10-unit gold discount for Dwarves. They also get a building replacement for the Armory, the Dwarven Foundry, with halved wood cost and whose techs are cheaper.
  - Loki-worshiping Norses get a 10% favor discount for all Myth Units. Their Ox Carts (the Norses' own mobile dropoff site for resources) also get a 25% food and gold discount.
  - Worshiping the minor Classical Age god Heimdall (available to Odin- and Loki-worshiping Norse) unlocks the tech "Safeguard", which reduces the cost of Towers by 25%.
- Atlanteans (The Titans):
  - Kronos-worshiping Atlanteans get -10% discounts on Siege units and Myth units.
  - Oranos-worshiping Atlanteans get a -25% discount on Sky Passages.
  - Gaia-worshiping Atlanteans get a -10% discount on Fishing Ships, -25% discount on Caravans, and -30% discount on Economic Guild techs (the latter used to be -20% prior to patch 1.02).
  - Worshiping the minor Classical Age god Prometheus (available to Kronos- and Oranos-worshiping Atlanteans) unlocks the tech "Heart of the Titans", which reduces the food, wood, and gold cost of Hero upgrades by 20%.
  - Worshiping the minor Heroic Age god Rheia (available to Kronos- and Gaia-worshiping Atlanteans) unlocks the tech "Rheia's Gift", which reduces the Favor cost for Myth improvements by 50%.
- Chinese (Tale of the Dragon):
  - Fu Xi-worshiping Chinese get a 20% cost discount on buildings and unit-line upgrades.
  - Nü Wa-worshiping Chinese get a 10% discount on all human soldiers.
  - Shennong-worshiping Chinese get a 50% discount on walls.
  - Worshiping the Classical Age god Huang Di (available to Fu Xi- and Nü Wa-worshiping Chinese) unlocks the techs "Oracle Bone Script", which reduces the cost of War Academy units by 15%, and "Five Grains", which reduces the cost of Farms by 30%.
  - Worshiping the Mythic Age god Chongli (available to Fu Xi- and Nü Wa-worshiping Chinese) unlocks the tech "Heavenly Fire", which removes the wood and food cost of Armory upgrades.
  - Worshiping the Mythic Age god Ao Kuang (available to Fu Xi- and Shennong-worshiping Chinese) unlocks the tech "East Sea", which decreases the cost of ships by 20%.
Bloons Tower Defense 5 introduces the Monkey Village, which reduces the price and upgrade costs of nearby towers by 10%, but its main benefit is to buff nearby towers with improvements. The sequel Bloons TD 6 instead causes the monkey village to initially increase range by 10%, but still has price reductions in its upgrade path.
Dawn of War: The Orks' More Sluggas! upgrade makes Slugga Boyz (their starting melee unit) cost no Requisition to create, allowing them to flood the map in greenskins.
Empire at War series
- Having certain characters on planets where you are building units will decrease the unit cost.
  - Having Mon Mothma on a planet decreases build costs for Rebel units on that planet by 25%.
  - Having Emperor Palpatine on a planet reduces build costs for Imperial units on that planet by 25%.
- Being in control of certain planets can reduce the build costs of specific units by 20%. For example, if the Imperial side controls the planet Abregado-Rae, they can build AT-STs for 20% less cost than normal.
Halo Wars: Various leaders have abilities or upgrades that reduce build, upgrade, or ability costs.
- John Forge's Economy Bonus upgrade causes all Supply Pads on Forge's bases start as Heavy Supply Pads.
- Ellen Anders' Economy Bonus upgrade reduces upgrade cost by 50% and research duration by 25%.
- Ripa 'Moramee's Spiteful Rage ability makes his abilities cost less resources.
Halo Wars 2: John Forge's Leader Powers Rolling Economy I and Rolling Economy II reduce costs and build times for Supply Pads, Generators, and their upgrades.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert Series:
- Soviet Industrial Plant in the Red Alert 2 expansion Yuri's Revenge reduces the cost of all vehicles and ships by approximately 20% while the Allied Ore Purifier amplifies the income from each ore delivery and Yuri's Cloning Vats produce additional free infantryman, providing you 2 infantry units at the price of one.
- One of the Soviet protocols in Red Alert 3 reduces all unit prices by 25% and 12.5% for allies via "carefully negotiated defense contracts".
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm: The Swarmling upgrade creates three zerglings instead of two for the same cost (the alternate upgrade makes zerglings deadlier and able to jump cliffs).

Simulation Games

Black & White 2: Zig-zagged with construction. As a god, you can miraculously build structures in seconds, freeing your villagers to do other things, but you need substantially more construction materials. (Presumably your house-sized hands fumble a few planks here and there.)
Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom: While a Patron God is present in your city, certain buildings associated with their area of influence can be built at half cost.

Turn-Based Strategy

Civilization V:
- Golden Ages, earned by keeping your empire happy for long enough, reduce the cost of everything you produce by 10% while they're active.
- The Egyptians produce Wonders 20% cheaper than other civs, which gives them great versatility as there are Wonders that support each victory type.
- Rome gets a 25% discount on any buildings that already exist in the capital, which lets them bring new cities up to speed much faster than other civs.
In Kaiju Wars, it normally costs money to build any sort of base, or to deploy a fresh unit or repair a damaged one. However, there are several Project cards which will let you build a single base of a specific type or repair a single damaged unit for free, letting you save your money for other things.
Master of Magic: Iron ore and coal in a city's economic radius reduce the cost of producing military units by 5% and 10% respectively.
Nintendo Wars:
- Colin's units are 20% cheaper, at the cost of 10% less firepower.
- Hachi, who is Purposefully Overpowered, gets a 10% deployment cost reduction with no drawbacks, and his CO Powers reduce the cost down to 50%.
- Inverted with Kanbei, whose units cost 20% more, but they're also stronger.

Reduced Resource Cost

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Reduced Resource Cost

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