Game styles
Game style

Idle Clicker

The numbers go up whether you play or not, and nothing can kill you.

No character, no enemies, and no way to lose. An idle game is a growth curve you are allowed to touch: you click, you buy something that clicks for you, and the price of the next one goes up. Almost all of the design is in that pricing.

The rules

  • There is no fail state. You cannot die and you cannot lose.
  • Income keeps arriving while you do nothing at all.
  • Every purchase raises the price of the next one.
  • The goal moves. Reaching one only reveals a bigger one.

Games like this: Cookie Clicker, Adventure Capitalist, Universal Paperclips.

Play a 60-second sample: Idle Clicker

Lessons that build this style