Cookie Clicker, Adventure Capitalist, Destination Kepler. These are just a few of the many and ever growing genre of Idle games. Idle games, also known informally as “clicker games,” are generally never-ending games that fulfill one simple purpose: wasting time. Nowadays, people search online for new things to do, new ways to fill the boredom that generally consumes their minds, or new outlets to keep their mind on something when things are hard. Thus, Idle games emerged, and have been more than successful.

The primary goal of Idle games is to simply get better. Through clicking, upgrades, more clicking, and buying more upgrades to get better clicks, it’s interesting that games with such a simple pattern can make such an impact in the world of online games. But perhaps, the pattern of the games is what makes them so appealing.

You, the player, start out with nothing. After a few clicks of the mouse, or a few taps of your fingers, you’ve made a substantial difference in comparison to how you started. Whether the currency be money, cookies, or gold, you can’t deny that you’ve made something. You’re able to buy things with that currency, upgrades to get you even more currency. There’s no point, no end game, but maybe it’s the feeling of success that makes you continue to play it further.

Of course, the pattern gets tiring after a while, and many people don’t play the games for long, unless they are truly dedicated and purely want to play the game out of finding it’s limits. But then again, most games aren’t played long term. Idle games are the perfect kinds of games when a person needs a break, and maybe a self-uplifting feeling of triumph, or a go-to during times of little happenings.