Recommend your favorite incremental mobile games, please
Hey all, hope everyone is well today and staying cool!
Lately I've been very interested in incremental mobile games, and also idle games. I'm not 100% on the terminology, but for whatever reason I've found myself enjoying games that simply make me wait. It's odd, I know, but I think it's related to a recent personal decision to distance myself from online apps; an oxymoron, I'm aware.
Anyway! Recommend your favorite incremental/idle apps please. I'm currently enjoying:
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Kittens Game
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Tiny Tower
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Pocket Trains
And.. that's it! If you have any recommendations yourself, let me know. Thanks in advance, and have a wonderful day.
PS: bonus points for outer space! I swear there's a space trading game that was mostly text-based, but the title escapes me.
PPS: Android!
If you like kittens game's text style, have you tried Universal Paperclip? Well worth the couple bucks for no ads. The web version is free but no prestige.
Check out Lifeline and see if that's your kind of game! It's a narrative experience where you are the only contact a stranded astronaut has on a desolate planet. They send you messages and ask you to help make decisions as they explore the landscape. This happens in "real time" so you have a burst of activity and then the astronaut might say "well I have a long walk ahead of me, I'll talk to you later" and then you have to wait a while on them.
I remember really enjoying it, and the studio seems to have released several other games like it over the years.
Oh this is so good! A little gem of a game. I played it alongside my ex, who picked it up after I enjoyed it so much.
Funny thing is we both saw the "person" on the other end as opposite genders, but as far as I remember, there is no actual mention of that at all and the name could be either.
Definitely recommend this one. Bonus points for not being an always-online game with ads and stuff.
I love Lifeline! I played it back in the day with my brother actually, it was fun comparing our own games and seeing where we diverged. Quite proud to report that I brought Taylor back home safe and sound (after failing to do so plenty of times).
This is definitely not my area of expertise… however I did play fallout shelter when it first came out years ago and that was a lot of fun. You would send out your guys to the wasteland and several hours later they would come back (or not). I’ve also heard good things about cozy grove, which I think has a time mechanic.
Magic Research has been fun for me.
Exponential Idle is a fun one with a side of learning math!
Mini Metro is a fun puzzle game that you can play in short bursts. It's quick to pick up and learn.
Iseps and cifi by octocube games are usually pretty highly rated.
Necromerger
Melvor idle is a personal favorite
Antimatter dimensions
Not an idle game but dawncaster is probably the best mobile game I've come across
A Dark Room, the free site or the paid app, is absolutely flawless.
I really enjoyed the OG browser based Swarm Simulator. They did a native app release with graphics and more stuff but it also got a bit p2w and sucked my battery down (admittedly I haven't tried it in many years since release)
Paragon Pioneers. Paragon Pioneers 2 is in the making.
I've recommended AFK Arena before but it's pretty good for a gacha game - and very F2P friendly. You can play 5-10 minutes per day or for an hour or two, whatever you feel like!
Evolve Idle is a browser based one. A little tricky on mobile (no app AFAIK) but otherwise a great incremental game that is similar but more developed then kittens game.
Other ones I still have on my phone are: Armory and machine(one and two), Realm grinder (another classic, long play incremental game). A dark room (and sequels), Grimoire, Sandcastle builder
I was very addicted to Idle Research for a while, but I think it stopped being updated. It got me really addicted to solitaire too for some reason. Even though it's unfinished there's at least a couple of weeks of fun with it.
I've been enjoying ExoMiner recently. It's quite well polished and essentially revolves around upgrading mining stations to refine ore and craft items. It's free but has the standard monetisation options (optional adverts to get free loot boxes being the only one I've used).
I'm sure the genre has developed since this one came out, but I loved Spaceplan. It's relatively short, with a narrative that ends, and the music is really excellent. I actually bought the soundtrack.