What are the best idle games on PC in 2024? There are some interesting connotations associated with clicker games. Also known as “incremental” or “idle” games, the names convey a certain expectation: click the mouse, get a tiny reward, and repeat until you make the process more efficient and profitable, like a lab rat pulling levers until it gets a tasty pellet.
In most cases, progress comes with a snowball effect that makes your clicks even more productive, hence the name “incremental.” There are also plenty of games that run automatically even when you're not playing, justifying the "clicker" moniker. Clicker games manage to boil down complex concepts into a series of single clicks and automation. It's an interesting concept that's ripe for exploration, and really makes you think about what makes a game a game.
The genre was once relegated to the dark corners of Itch.io and Kongregate, but has grown in popularity in recent years, with markets like Steamare just bursting with new idle games, clicker games and incremental games for you to try out. It's almost overwhelming.
Below are nine games worth checking out. One advantage of clickers is that, with a few exceptions, they're usually free, so if you're looking for the best free PC games, you can find an idle game that suits your tastes.
Here are the best clicker games on PC:
Hero wars
Looking for a game to help you pass the stress-free hours? You should try Hero Wars. This is one of the best from the list of the best clicker games on PC. While the game's ads might make you think it's a puzzle game, it's really all about putting together a team of heroes and then having them fight hordes of enemies and even teams of other players in PvP mode.
Once the battles start, you can simply leave your team to fend for themselves. Your task is to unlock heroes and ensure that your team is optimally equipped to solve a variety of problems. It's certainly a simple game, but it's also addictive and can quickly become part of your daily routine.
ADVENTURE CAPITALIST
AdVenture Capitalist casts you as an enterprising entrepreneur who wants to make it big in the investment game. You start out with one lemonade stand, but soon you'll be making pizza, managing hockey teams, making movies, and even managing banks. Each business you buy increases your profits and the rate at which you produce goods, but it also makes it difficult to spread your focus across all of your businesses. Luckily, you can hire managers to automate each business so that the money keeps coming in while you focus on something else.
This snowball effect is at the heart of AdVenture Capitalist. Watching each business run on its own as you expand your ever-growing network of businesses captures the exciting essence of clicker games. AdVenture Capitalist also takes the term "idle game" to heart, as you continue to make profits even when you're not playing the game. If only capitalism were so accessible to everyone.
CRUSADERS OF THE LOST IDOLS
When we compiled this list of the best clicker games on PC, we couldn't help but mention Crusaders of the Lost Idols. Part RPG, part side-scroller, completely clicker. In Crusaders of the Lost Idols, you control a group of fantasy heroes as they fight their way through hordes of monsters. By defeating enemies, you earn gold that can be spent on new crusaders. Each character can be upgraded and has a set of abilities that can also be purchased with gold. As you move forward, your small army will grow, as will the damage it can deal.
Formations are central to the Crusaders formula. Rotating your squad is an important part of maximizing your gold flow. There are certain characters that deal more damage when next to certain classes, characters that deal more damage from the back row, etc. If you love tactical games, then Crusaders of the Lost Idols is a great choice.
REALM GRINDER
In Realm Grinder, you play the role of the ruler of a small fantasy kingdom. You earn coins simply by clicking on your kingdom, which can then be spent on buildings that automatically generate income for you. Buildings such as inns and forges continue to collect coins automatically even when you are offline.
In Realm Grinder you can choose the good or evil direction of your kingdom's development. By choosing one or the other, you can form an alliance with various fantasy races and gain access to unique buildings and improvements. However, once you make your choice, you will remain with it until the end of the game. Replayability isn't the most common theme among clicker games, but Realm Grinder manages to offer surprising variety.
COOKIE CLICKER
One of the pioneers of incremental clickers, Cookie Clicker is synonymous with the genre. You start by clicking on a large cookie, earning one cookie per click. If you bake enough cookies, you can buy new cursors that will click for you. You can also hire grannies to make cookies, plant a field of cookie seeds, and increase the efficiency of your clicks.
When you earn enough cookies, you can restart the game and get new upgrades like sky chips, play new mini-games to earn a lot of cookies at once, and even trade with the Cookie Dragon. There are also seasonal events that give temporary chances to increase the number of cookies. If you love idle games at all, you simply must try Cookie Clicker. Cookie Clicker is also on our list of cooking games if you prefer restaurant management games.
CLICKER HEROES
If clicking monsters into oblivion is your thing, then Clicker Heroes might be for you. You start with a lone warrior, and clicking on a monster deals one point of damage. However, you'll soon gain allies that automatically deal damage to enemies. You can level up each member of your party using coins dropped from slain monsters, and each character has a variety of abilities that can be acquired over time, making them more powerful.
The best part about Clicker Heroes is watching the amount of damage you deal go from single digits to huge numbers. The game also features a surprising amount of choice, as multiple character abilities can be unlocked at any given time. There are no wrong decisions here, however, as everything you do contributes to increasing the damage you're able to deal, making for a relaxing RPG experience.
DRILL
Forager is not just an idle, clicker, or turn-based game. Progressing in this crafting game requires a lot more active participation as you engage in combat, build your base, and, er, mine for materials. However, as you approach the final stage of Forager, the pace of the game changes as more and more of your systems become automated, allowing you to sit back and relax while your machines produce all the goods that you would normally have to fight for or plunder from the surrounding wildlife. If you're looking for a slow-paced game with little action, this delightful top-down indie game is hard to beat. It’s not for nothing that it takes pride of place in the list of the best clicker games on PC.
TIME CLICKERS
If Crusaders of the Lost Idols is an approximation of role-playing games, then Time Clickers is an incremental version of a first-person shooter. In this futuristic game, you click your mouse to destroy cubes that drop currency. The money is used to buy new weapons that automatically fire for you. You can upgrade each weapon to increase its damage, and even buy activated abilities that deal extra damage.
The game is divided into stages called "arenas", and at the end of each of them you will find a massive boss. Bosses serve as a kind of check on the player's progress; they're real bullet sponges, and fights are timed. If you fail, you'll be set back a couple of stages so you can earn money to upgrade your weapon. It's a fun series that brings a futuristic twist to the clicker genre.
PLANTERA
The Plantera game starts quite simply: catch a butterfly in a net and get one coin. Soon you will have enough coins to plant a small carrot patch. Collect carrots to earn money and plant blueberries. After selling enough carrots and blueberries, you can plant an apple tree. Soon you will have a thriving garden rich in delicious fruits and vegetables. It's a much healthier game than Cookie Clicker, that's for sure.
As you develop, you will have assistants who will automatically collect the ripe crop. You'll also have to ward off unwanted scavengers, such as magpies and rabbits, who want to prey on the fruits of your labor. Plantera is one of the few games on this list of the best clicker games on PC that is actually worth the money ($2,99 at Steam), but in exchange it comes across as a solid game with plenty of choice. Besides, she's very sweet.
Creature Card Idle
Creature Card Idle is a marriage between idle games and the best card games. By placing cards on the field, you receive gold per second, which you need to save up to buy decks of cards and open slots for placing cards. These creature cards have various buffs, such as Ice Sword, which gives 100% of the production of the card above it, or Beer, which gives three gold per second but disables the production of other cards in its row.
The game is about arranging your cards optimally to squeeze every last drop of gold out of them, and then using the money to buy more powerful cards and rebuild the board again. You don't keep old cards, however—once your pockets get heavy enough, you'll need to buy and combine ten identical cards to create an improved version and keep the coins flowing.
NGU Idle
You ask what makes this game on the list of the best clicker games on PC? We'll explain it to you. NGU stands for Numbers Go Up, and it's a hilarious RPG style game that puts you in the shoes of a dim-witted amnesiac who has somehow ended up in the sewers and must train to defeat his various opponents in order to progress through the story, taking on increasingly difficult enemies - starting with beating up a piece of menacing fluff. Energy is generated every second and can be spent on training attack and defense skills, more of which are unlocked over time. As you get stronger, you will have to go through various bosses, which after defeating you can fight again in the Adventure tab, earning gold and items.
The game's developer, 4G, guides you through the first few minutes of the game in an engaging tutorial - the storytelling style is a reward in itself as you unlock new features and bosses, although of course the main reward is watching the numbers climb.
TRIMPS
Trimps starts out like many other clicker games: you need to collect one resource with a few clicks. Since you can only have one task active at a time (collect wood, check traps, etc.), it won't be long before you find yourself stranded. However, you'll soon meet the titular Trimps, small creatures that can be used to automate most tasks.
As your small army of thrimps grows, you will find yourself running out of resources and food. With the help of trims, you will build a small village, fight monsters and even storm a mysterious spire. Completely text-based, the Trimps interface is spreadsheet-like and has a lot of numbers to manage. Math geeks are sure to have a lot of fun with this casual game.
DARKROOM
And we close our list of the best clicker games on PC with A Dark Room. Along with Cookie Clicker, A Dark Room is one of the progenitors of the incremental game genre. However, what sets it apart from other games on this list is that A Dark Room revels in its mystery and minimalism. The plot is presented entirely through text and slowly reveals information about the surrounding world.
You start the game in a dark room and have to light a fire. Soon you will run out of firewood, and you will have to go to the nearest forest to get it. Soon, a stranger comes to your house and you go in search of a mystery that is part of a text adventure game and part of an optimization puzzle. It's strangely unsettling and atmospheric, which is a great achievement given the limitations of A Dark Room's presentation and gameplay.
Idle games have gained something of a cult following in recent years. The snowball effect, when a small amount of resources turns into huge profits, just by clicking the mouse, seems to scratch the general itch. In an environment filled with complex control schemes, it can be nice to relax with something simpler.
However, the experience doesn't have to be superficial, as games like A Dark Room prove. Watching developers and programmers experiment with genre conventions is exciting, and there's a surprising amount of innovation happening in the field. Just because a game is labeled "idle" doesn't mean it isn't exciting.
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