Extinction mechanics, even when used ironically, are great at reminding players that no resource is limitless.

In Red Dead Redemption, all animals can be safely hunted and will respawn with time – except one. The bison roaming the plains in the later parts of the game world secretly don’t respawn. If you kill them all you get an achievement called Manifest Destiny, appropriately mocking the arrogant ideology of US settlers that drove the once-abundant American bison to extinction during the time of the Wild West.