Idle games can be fun!

[Traab]

We got any idle gamers here? Come one come all! I dont care if its cookie clickers, realm grinder, crusaders of the lost idols, adventure capitalist, whatever it may be. If you play one of those idle incremental type games lets hear about it. What you like, what you dislike, etc. I will start with my current game

Im restarting realm grinder after a long hiatus. The basic gist of it is standard enough, you buy structures that earn coins, use those coins to buy more structures and upgrades, then reset once you have earned enough gems to do it all over again, this time moving further ahead. What makes it interesting is it has such a wide variety of options. For example, there are two factions to start, good and evil, each faction has three races to choose from, and each race has its own positives and negatives. As an example, one of the good races, elven, is meant to be played actively clicking for coins, of which its unique upgrades provides numerous bonuses that make a big difference. meanwhile on the evil side you have the undead whose stats increase the longer you play as them, and even more so when not playing the game at all. Meaning you buy all your current upgrades, then log off for the night. By the next day you are making LOTS more coins.

Then once you are settled in with these factions you will be able to unlock three more races that provide their own special powers and bonuses. The way to unlock them is secret but the game provides clues and there is always the very well setup wiki to guide you. THEN it gets even better as things start to slow down you get the ability to unlock 2 more races, these ones get stacked on top of the previous 6. So basically, you play as elves till you unlock all their spells, then you can unlock dwarves to get their upgrades on top of all that.

As you can tell it all gets complicated and there is a lot more to it than that. However, its all doled out slowly enough that you dont get overwhelmed by it all. Its not just dropping 375 combinations for you to choose from all at once and saying good luck. The other plus side is the trophies and accomplishments. In most games they are just a way to show how far you have gotten, "Congrats on building 300 of that structure!" That sort of thing. In this game its that, and they sometimes unlock even more upgrades. Some are so simple, just build so much of this, play as that faction, others require specific setups like say, playing as the good faction for such and such length of time unlocks a boost to all good buildings, that sort of thing. The DOWNSIDE is that some are kind of obnoxious. Right now im playing a single game with no resets for 36 hours straight to unlock something. So basically, just not playing for a day and a half. But its important to unlock so no choice really. But they are generally one time deals so once you do that, you are set. The game has an unbelievable amount of things to do and more and more get unlocked as you go so it helps keep boredom from setting in. Plus its still getting updates and such, adding in newer and higher level things to do.

[danzibr]

I’ve played a few. More Virtual Beggar (though that’s... kinda more of a tapping game) and Adventure Capitalist. The latter got quite boring after a while.
I agree they can be fun.

[Traab]

Adventure capitalist eventually hit a brick wall on progress where it was like, "Ok, if you spend the next month constantly slamming into the exact same spot you will get enough to hit the next tier and move on again" I think that was with the moon. Mars was super fast to max out. Clicker heroes was another game that was surprisingly fun to play, but that one also got repetitive after awhile. Working your way to the next hero unlock was a decent goal but it started taking absurdly long, like weeks, to get to the next hero. Yeah your numbers kept going up, woohoo and all that, but the numbers you needed to reach were just so freaking far away. Clicker hero 2 came out but im not paying 30 bucks for it.

[Spore]

Not even sure if it is an idle game but I have sunk a few hours into Knights of Pen and Paper. It is pretty fun and the meta jokes are enjoyable. It scratches an itch for not-so-serious pen and paper campaigns and turn based combat (though it is mostly just damage, heal, and the odd crowd control/defensive/offensive buff).

[Traab]

Not even sure if it is an idle game but I have sunk a few hours into Knights of Pen and Paper. It is pretty fun and the meta jokes are enjoyable. It scratches an itch for not-so-serious pen and paper campaigns and turn based combat (though it is mostly just damage, heal, and the odd crowd control/defensive/offensive buff).

For me an idle game is one that you can leave running in the background to at least some extent. Like, it may be better to actively play it as you progress further and faster, but it isnt the only way the game works. Basically, most of these.

[The Glyphstone]

I'm enjoying Crusaders of the Lost Idols quite a bit. Its all the low effort investment of an idol game, but the objectives, weekly challenges, and champion synergies add a variety that keeps it fresh enough to not lose interest.

[Kato]

I've played quite a few over time and every now and again I pick another one up, but few keep me interested for long. I think the problem is the lack of objectives. Quests are nice but they are not a real goal. It's something that bothers me with other games as well and rarely am I fine with ignoring them. I need some kind of 'you're done if you did x' finish line, even if the rest is repetitive.

[Traab]

I've played quite a few over time and every now and again I pick another one up, but few keep me interested for long. I think the problem is the lack of objectives. Quests are nice but they are not a real goal. It's something that bothers me with other games as well and rarely am I fine with ignoring them. I need some kind of 'you're done if you did x' finish line, even if the rest is repetitive.

Yeah I mean, you can only use "reach the next plateau" so many times before it gets boring. Its why I liked realm grinder so much, it had so many new and unusual additions as you progressed that it kept things interesting because you didnt do the exact same thing every time.

[Kato]

Yeah I mean, you can only use "reach the next plateau" so many times before it gets boring. Its why I liked realm grinder so much, it had so many new and unusual additions as you progressed that it kept things interesting because you didnt do the exact same thing every time.

For some weird reason I have less problems with the repitition than with the lack of an objective. I mean, I like variety but I can manage repeating similar things for a while if it's in some way engaging. But the idea of doing this forever with no end in sight? *shudder*
I feel like there are / must be idle games that have goals you can reach within x time, but I cannot remember any of the top of my head.

[TaRix]

For what it's worth, Kongregate's practically infested with them. Idle Wizard might be of interest to minmaxers in the playground, as there's frequent new classes and spell lists that, once figured out, help propel you faster to the 'next plateau'. A popular one now is NGU Idle, full of silliness but has some serious walls after a couple of weeks. Another that was developed about ten years ago but is pretty much finished and waiting for Flash to die is Anti-Idle, with several little gamelets to play actively and things to run in the background.
For Adventure Capitalist, I just had to play the holiday-themed events to get over some humps. That's about the only one I ever finished.

[Knaight]

There's a handful of genuinely finishable, relatively short ones that have actual narratives attached (video game narratives, but still), along with the sort of structure to its pacing that having an ending affords. I've liked some in passing, though I'm coming up blank on names.

[Eurus]

There's a handful of genuinely finishable, relatively short ones that have actual narratives attached (video game narratives, but still), along with the sort of structure to its pacing that having an ending affords. I've liked some in passing, though I'm coming up blank on names.

Um... A Dark Room and Candy Box come to mind? I actually can't recall if they finish well, but I remember that they unfold very nicely.

[TaRix]

There's a handful of genuinely finishable, relatively short ones that have actual narratives attached (video game narratives, but still), along with the sort of structure to its pacing that having an ending affords. I've liked some in passing, though I'm coming up blank on names.

There's one, called Space Plan, I think, that definitely has an ending. The free, scaled-down version is on Kongregate and a longer paid version is on Steam. If you start seeing potato jokes early on, that's the one.

[Traab]

galactic clicker is one that has an actual end. No real story, a solid rate of progression though. No real walls to speak of, with an auto clicker (A must for some of these games) you can beat it in a couple days. Its odd but every now and then I come back to it to replay the whole thing.

[Cicciograna]

I used to play Clickpocalypse 2 on the computer, leaving it on overnight on the PC in my office. My characters would level up real fast.

[Wookieetank]

I've played a few over the years. One of my favorites is Progress Quest. If ever there's a truer idle game I've yet to find it.