Here's What Makes Incremental Games FUN!

I've created an idle incremental game from scratch just for the sake of this video to reveal this secret of fun.

We'll dive into the fascinating world of idle incremental games, where seemingly simple mechanics captivate millions of players worldwide. Join me as I explore what makes these games so engaging by creating a brand new idle incremental game from scratch.

As a solo game developer with over a decade of experience crafting my main game "Get a Little Gold," I'll demonstrate how a single core mechanic drives the addictive gameplay of incremental games. Starting with the basics, we'll use ducks as our currency and build generators to increase our duck production.

Witness firsthand the magic of exponential growth as we encounter price walls and discover two essential strategies: introducing higher-tier generators for greater efficiency and implementing a prestige mechanic to reset progress for permanent bonuses. These strategies are key to overcoming obstacles and accelerating progress in the game.

It's absolutely free.

If you're curious about what makes incremental games addictive or are looking to try your hand at game development, this video is for you. Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments.

[yoahnoah]

me personally i like it when you can really FEEL the progress

like it doesnt feel like a slog and you constantly unlock new interesting mechanics, thats why i like idling to rule the gods and ngu idle! (though i usually stop playing when the pace goes slower)

[我想猫餅性非公式ofcial]

I am a university student living in Japan.
I have loved get a little gold since I was in elementary school, and it is a big part of what shaped my youth. I was able to accumulate unvigintillion gold. I still think about this game often. I am confident that I love this game the second most in the world. When will this game be available to the public on smartphones?

[Tony-rvsp]

What Makes Incremental Games FUN ? The duck music 😂

[tillantas]

Lol I just managed to land on 14min 40sec on my second try.
I would also add to this conversation and say that to any idle game that wants to have longevity to its gameplay helps to have 2 things.
First is kinda tricky but done really well is great and that is to have multiple paths to reach the goal, offer multiple "solutions" to the puzzle of getting 1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 however many ducks.
The 2nd thing is to avoid the trap of the ever increasing prestige catchup void. So many idle games have some sort of "level" mechanic or some sort of other progression the player must progress through to get back to the point where they had previously just prestiged from. Often times after a certain point is just to leave the game running for hours while you go do something else just so you can get back to playing the game proper, and this time period will only get longer the more you play the game.
I have played many idle games and I havn't personally heard much discussion on this topic before so I quite like the video, good job 👍

[zeddash]

Big fan of your channel, this past week I took part in a game jam; and it's the first game I've made. The jam's theme is "cycles" and I made an idle game that is based on orbits of planets, moons, and satellites - I added as many cycles as I could. I have a video playing through the game start to finish on my channel (it's called "Orbital Incremental"), about 40 minutes (I don't know if I can post links in the comments).

You start off with Mercury, you upgrade that and earn enough for Venus, same to Earth. Once you unlock Earth you start to earn science for every Earth, moon, and satellite orbit. Moons and satellites are functionally identical (satellites orbit 25% faster) except moons are bought with money ("stardust") and are limited in number, and satellites are bought with science and have a wait time to build and launch. Every time a satellite (natural and artificial) orbits they earn science but also they earn the planet they orbit a permanent money multiplier bonus.
While earning money you can "go supernova" destroying the solar system and earning black holes, each black hole provides a +5% bonus to money/stardust and science.
I had a huge amount of fun making it, but I especially had fun figuring out the maths to make the prices perfect.

Additionally it has music where layers get added as you buy more planets. I'm not a musician and only found out with a short time left that my game should have music and it's a little busy but I do like it especially how it get added to.

[debackervincent]

First attempt 15m33s

the sound is very similar to the old machintosh error sound :-) bui-bui

[DoneCosta]

It took me 28 min and 6 seconds to collect 1 billion 🤣🤣🤣
Nice video!

[luqnotperfect]

well im about to launch my own idle too. Been working 12 months on it. Will just target ios to start, then see where it can goes

[Alex.S.]

How did I also get exactly 14m44s on my first try? 🤣 Well, I guess I am as good as the develover at his own game.
Love the sound. Want a duck on the screen that I can click to get the quack-quack-quack while I have to wait a second for the button to light up again.

[thefirstuwu]

I think adding a second value, that highly influences the main one, could work like new generators. That new value would not have such a problem with generators, at least for a while, there would also be an option to convert the new value to the main one, but if the new value exceeds the main one, the main one starts decreasing rapidly, or, for example, generators start breaking. The new value would therefore introduce more growth, but also more management and responsibility for the player

[jasonalex]

i took 17 mins 21 secs to get 1 billion

[frozenking]

Was watching this while playing realm grinder, lol

[maximilianomartinmassera]

so you recomend learning unity for iddle games?, im 38 years old, never programed anything in my life, i would like to try to make something easy before i die,

[nemonomen]

Incremental games aren't fun. I'm convinced anyone that spends time playing these types of games is suffering and needs to seek therapy.