Genre guidesLong-termResourcesCasual
Idle progress
Progress continues while the player is away, and the return needs a decision that visibly changes the pace. The pleasure is knowing what to change at that moment.
Guides explain combinations and are counted separately from individual mechanisms.
Core loop
- See what offline or automatic work produced
- Spend resources on a new producer
- Let production run by itself for a while
- On return, retire an outdated setup and replace it
Key mechanisms
- Who is producing, and where it is stuck, stays visible
- The next purchase should change the pace, not add a tiny percent
- Large numbers still need a milestone a person can understand
Design notes
- Start with three buildings and a change that is felt within a minute
- Cap offline gains so returning does not skip every decision
- Keep one short action that requires the player to be present
Reference games
- Cookie Clicker
- Melvor Idle
- AdVenture Capitalist
Variants and combinations
- What idles is a production line that can jam
- An automatic battle keeps a small part of its build after the run
- A rare product appears only when the player comes back to look
Common pitfall
Idle play need not force waiting; departure and return should have honest state feedback.
Observations and sources
Cases refer to public documentation. Developers and community wikis are credited separately; document review is not a claim of hands-on testing.
- Cookie Clicker
Compare buying production and waiting for income as inputs to the next decision.
Brief for the studio
Opens the AI studio with the brief below in the input. You can edit it. Nothing starts automatically.
Make an idle game: three workshops keep producing while you are away, up to a cap. On return, the blocked workshop is visible and you spend resources on it. Every purchase should change the pace within thirty seconds.
Covers are original AI-generated style illustrations. Game names reference publicly visible design choices and remain the property of their owners. This atlas does not supply screenshots or assets from those games. Prompts and combinations are original drafts for new games.