Idle games run rampant in the gaming world with many variations from farming to raising warriors. There seems to be an idle game advertised one after another in a never-ending cycle.
An idle game is one that requires players to collect resources to level up some kind of character or place which is typically played on mobile. Rather than manually having to farm for these resources by exploring a world, these games automatically collect them for players. These games run offline as well making it easy to harvest materials and grow.
As a game that requires little effort, it certainly attracts a lot of players who lack time to invest in full-length games.
The popularity of idle games declined for a few reasons. Firstly, pay-to-win began to overtake the game where if players wanted to excel and make progress quickly, a paywall blocked them.
Another reason for the decline was that an idle game really only goes so far. It can become an endless grind for materials and can quickly bore with its limited gameplay.
Idle games also became an oversaturated market. There are so many different kinds with similar gameplays that makes it easier to find boring after playing a few variations.
Still, I found idle games as a great way to relax. I used to be obsessed with quite a few of them, though that has died out recently.
One of the games I was obsessed with was Immortal Taosists-Idle Manga. My brother recommended the game to me because we used to be obsessed with Chinese cultivation novels, and this was the first free game we’d seen in this genre. It had a competitive aspect in each server which really invigorated my desire to power up my character and reach immortality. There were many things I could do daily in the game to help with this process which helped make the game feel more interactable compared to other idle games.
Another idle game I used to obsessively play was Egg, Inc., a game about raising chickens and making the most amount of money from selling their eggs. I found it to have a cute aesthetic, and I loved seeing how much money I was making. It was easy to manage as well. I didn’t feel the need to pay at all as I received a lot of rewards for free, many of which were usually blocked behind a paywall.
Idle games were a great way to pass the time and gave me a way to invest in a game without taking too much time out of my day. What are your favorite idle games? Are there any you still play today? Share your thoughts in the comments below or join us for a conversation on our Boss Rush Discord!
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The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, LeRon, Stephanie, Edward, and their friends from around the internet come together to talk their week in games, entertainment, and more while also bringing topics for conversation, answer listener and community questions, and cover major news and events happening in the video game industry. Watch The Boss Rush Podcast live on Wednesday Nights on Twitch at 8:30PM ET / 5:30PM PT or on Friday mornings at 7AM ET on YouTube and podcast services everywhere. Thanks for listening! You can also get this episode one week early on Patreon.
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Featured Image: Immortal Taoists