Clicker game
Clicker game , also clicking game , idle game or incremental game , is a computer game genre .
Style of play and development
The gameplay consists in the fact that the player repeatedly performs simple actions, mostly simple clicks (hence the name of the genre), in order to receive an in-game currency. This in turn can be invested in items or skills to increase the rate of income or to make the click itself and thus even the presence of the player unnecessary. The aim of the game is to reach milestones (" collect the amount of X currency "). If all milestones are reached, the game usually goes into an endless game, i. H. the player can continue playing as long as he likes, but no longer has a goal to play.
These types of games are mostly aimed at casual gamers or are intended as a time filler between activities. In fact, the game genre is said to be highly addictive .
The themes are mostly well-known motifs from other, more demanding computer games, which are usually aimed at intensive gamers, but without reaching their complexity by either extremely simplifying known game mechanisms (e.g. computer role-playing games in Clicker Heroes ) or satirizing them (e.g. B. Business simulations in AdVenture Capitalist ). This is seen as one of the reasons for the popularity of clicker games.
Although clicker games ( cow clicker , candy box ) existed before , their popularity only increased with the cookie clicker released in 2013 . From this point on, an increasing glut of clicker games began, including on digital distribution platforms such as Steam , on which the successful Clicker Heroes was published.
Business model
Most clicker games are either freeware or are published free-to-play and rely on micropayment within the game so that they still generate a profit. Digital forms of publication are preferred, for example via the Steam distribution platform .
Individual evidence
- ^ Aaron Sankin: The most addictive new game on the Internet is actually a joke at www.dailydot.com , accessed October 1, 2015.
- ^ Nathan Grayson: Clicker Games Are Suddenly Everywhere On Steam at www.kotaku.com , accessed October 1, 2015.