Probably becoming mainstream from publishing giant Kongregate, I really became aware of the Idle Genre back in 2014 with the release of Tap Titans by Game Hive Corporation. To my surprise I really enjoyed it and found myself somehow hypnotised by the some what endless levelling up progression whilst essentially just watching a game. Pretty curious indeed.

The genre in 2020 has simply exploded and for good reason, popular Idle games make a ton of money.

Leaning into the “I don’t want to wait” mentality and “I want to upgrade ASAP” these are the kings of rewarded video and make the players “want” to watch them.

Using relatively non-aggressive monetisation strategies, although deliberately slow in the beginning, most Idle games don’t feel like a cash grab and typically we have the sense of a fair exchange of value to progress faster.

Essentially, and of course it depends on the game, most elements can be either speeded up, upgraded or unlocked by way of watching an ad. Great for the developer, fair enough to the player.

Utilising an “Offline” earning system, meaning the game and your progress keeps on going even when you’re not playing, are great for retention assuming the execution meets expectations. 

Of course these eat content and if you’re looking to develop an Idle game of your own, be sure you have your assets production on overdrive and a way longer development cycle than any hyper casual game would ever take. There’s some awesome Idle games out on the store so I’d highly recommend giving one a go at least. The ones below are definitely some of the better picks you’ll find.