IDLE GAMES
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2022
- hello, apologies for the prolonged break, I made a community post going more in depth but I got a bit burnt out on videos and had some issues making something that I thought people would enjoy, hopefully you guys like this video I managed to make, I'll be returning to a more normal upload schedule.
/ stryxo
/ discord - เกม
My favorite thing in clicker games is when the visual starts out simple, but gets more and more outlandishly covered in things happening. Cookie clicker does it really well with the sheer amount of cookies falling from the sky and the pointers
To be honest it was probably the first one to ever become mainstream outside of flash games of course
Polygon BINTIED?
hi polgon donute
polygon moment
Hi polyhedron torus
i love cookie clicker for all the actual content in the game; every upgrade has flavor text, the pixel art is gorgeous, and seeing what the next achievement will look like is fun
yeah and it takes stupid amount of time to "finish".
i like it but it completly lags my laptop
I really like the minigames, I remember stacking 777x click power, frenzy, and a few other effects and multiplying the amount of cookies I had by 10,000
@@Frankie12374 HOW
Heh, “flavor” text
the ones you played are pretty much the "classic boring" kind, stuff like antimatter dimensions and kittens game (first ones to come to mind) are a lot more complex and fun. (saying this as a recommendation, not as a critique just to be clear c:)
I would not recommend antimatter dimensions unless you play one of the mods that speed things up. If you play the original it’s pretty much a requirement to follow the massive guide as progress without it is absurdly slow. Even with the guide, the time walls are ridiculous and near the end you’re more likely to forget about the game than hit the next milestone cause it takes so much time.
@@oauziphil8512 well yea once u get to the big tree it starts to get redicilous, but it's fun before that
universal paperclips and a dark room too, best "clicker" games imo
@@wijo605IMO the game got super fun after the first eternity (second prestige layer i forgot the name)
also shoutout NGU Idle
I love how Stryxo is so in touch with his fanbase. Several times a week he asks for his community’s opinions on things. I think more yourubers shold do that
TH-camrs*
the spam is annoying
i also enjoy it
I feel like he's doing it for more video engagement from other people- if they happened to watch the same genre of videos he makes its likely they'll see his polls, regardless if they have watched him or not. I feel like he doesn't actually care about knowing anything from his fanbase and that it's just a lazy marketing tactic.
Do what you can to grow, I guess.
You mean Polls? I don't get em anymore since I always block them but even I noticed it
"Candybox" and "A Dark Room" are amazing idle games, because it is about resource management, but those resources allow you to go on an adventure. So the resource gathering is idle but the adventure is not. I think it strikes an amazing balance.
NGU Idle is by far the best and my favorite idle game, and it doesn't leave you with an empty feeling after playing, cause there's so much to do and the ending is satisfying.
NGU idle has one of the best progression systems i have ever seen. The fact that it keeps introducing new mechanics that completely change the way you approach the game is wild to me and i reall like that i can still find new strategies after 2 years of playing :D
It actually IS the best idle game. It's a simple fact.
Facts, I have 20k hours in ngu idle and man it was a ride.
I wish you had mentioned Universal Paperclips, since that is one of the few idle games with an actual story. Granted it doesnt last nearly as long as most idle games, but it does feel like just the right length to accomplish its goal.
There was an incremental game about crypto mining that I loved, I forgot how it was called,
it looked very traditional at first but surprised me and ended up being actually hilarious.
Much shorter than other incremental games, and actually had something to say.
Two of the best games in this genre imo are NGU idle and Trimps. NGU progressively opens up new mechanics and has alot of charm put into it while Trimps seems to hide alot from the player inittally and respects your time by having it's "ascension" mechanic progress you trough the game rather quickly.
Trimps and ngu idle both also incredibly respect your time (Trimps to the extreme) allowing you to automate nearly everything you would want to do. These are also my favorite 2 games in the genre
I think kittens game and melvor idle are more fun
its*
I've been slave to NGU for more than a year or so now. 4G is evil. approaching end game territory,
I'm at the 12th titan
Don't forget Antimatter Dimensions. Multiple prestige layers, each with slightly different mechanics
I love how a game genre originally made as a critique of grinding in games and capitalism quickly became one of the most profitable game genres out there
Source?
@@coffeedude bro, wdym? Not like there is a news article about it. I guess the "source" could be cookie clicker since it's the first game to actually call itself a clicker.
@@nolifer3844 I meant a source of the developer stating that the game was a critique of grinding and capitalism
@@coffeedude It is Progress Quest
If you don't see the capitalist critique in Cookie Clicker, you haven't played it, or you're being willfully ignorant. It's one of the most effective satires of "growth for growth's sake" there is.
I went through an Idler phase where I went HARD into games like Cookie Clicker, AdVenture Capitalist & a few others.
It was honestly fairly fun, but then came the crushing spiral of checking once a day to see my progress. Ultimately feeling like I put nothing into this game and hating myself for finding enjoyment in something that I didn't actively try to accomplish. Basically, that shit had me severely depressed.
I tried finding enjoyment in getting the achievements or trophies that the game has, but that just made me feel overly stressed when I put too much time into these sorts of Idle games which are designed to be played on occasion and not for hours at a time.
My overall opinion of Idle games as of right now is:
I like them, but don't really care much about how well I perform in them. It's better to just chill and then check them every few days devoting a couple hours to it when I have time and can be bothered to. It's also nice to have one in the background when you're reading, watching videos or doing work (especially for my ADD brain that easily loses focus).
Basically, Idle games are fun when you don't care how much progress you make, but like to have something keeping you engaged.
Almost like you gotta be idle in an idle game
@@jellyrollderp3193 based
When cookie clicker came out I played it a lot, eventually I realized playing them were basically a waste of my time and if I wanted to see how they ended I could look up a video of them.
My opinion on them now is I don’t mind an idle mechanic in a game where there’s other mechanics going on that require strategic input. I understand the draw though.
Yeah.. that's why i say, that games should generally enhance the life's of their players. Games like antichamber or To the moon, will provide new perspectives.. games like baba is you and factorio will certainly teach you new ways of solving atomic and complex problems.. and games like the bindings of isaac and pokemon unite will train your intuition, reflexes and perhaps the ability to track more moving entities at once than usually.. which could be handy for driving a car something.
The point is, games should serve such purposes and should do it well. Otherwise they should just die out, especially those pointless shovelgames you'll get advisements for day and night..
Heck even girlfriend simulations serve a better purpose than most idle games.. at least you'd be concerned about social skills.. ideally spoken..
Some favorites are Crank, Universal Paperclips, a dark room, and space plan. They're all not too long and they keep the player engaged with new mechanics and "plot"
When I was in high school, cookie clicker was HUGE. Everybody in my high school had a school-issued MacBook to use for homework, as this was around 5 years ago.
Im not sure entirely how this started, but a buddy of mine showed me the game during my German language class, I think. The game had become a straight-up competition among a lot of the people in my class, with people going to crazy lengths to get the most cookies. Shit was seriously insane
Middle school for me on the school iPads. Once people figured out how to start cheating it was the beginning of the end.
i actually know the person who made grindcraft. And he's been hard at work on another game for years that has a lot more passion in it. unfortunate that the guys wife passed away from cancer, but even if his prior works havent been amazing, i still have a lot of respect for the dude.
Kitten's Game is definitely one of my favorites. It balances Idle and Active really well compared to other incrimental games that I've played, and initial progress is somewhat slow (it took me a week to prestige for the first time) but that slow pace helps the player adjust to the many different mechanics of the game. I would really recommend!
Kitten's Game is the DarkSouls of IdleGames
Kittens game is the best idle game I've ever played, simply because it is so huge and just gets bigger and bigger as time goes on. Most idle games get pretty stagnant after a couple prestiges, but in kittens game you unlock new things consistently that force you to change your entire setup. Plus the first presteige is only really worth it after 20+ days of gameplay
Kittens game is seriously one of the best idle games. It’s not pretty but it just keeps going I’ve been playing about a year on this save.
I love the psychology of games
I started playing this idle game a few weeks ago called farmers against potatoes. I'm addicted, I just like watching the number go up. Sometime you don't want to try at video games you just want to watch the numbers go up.
Bloons TD 6 is one of the only "Idle games" that I like. It's fun to me, and challenging at times.
Giga chad
BTD6 doesn't really count as an "Idle" game, tbh?
Btd6 isn't a idle game, personally I like cookie clicker though as an idle game because you don't have to be idle per se, you can play it while looking at it.
Bro BTD is not an idle game. It's a strategy game which requires you to be as involved as chess does.
@@ZainAhmed456 an idle game doesn’t have to exactly require you to be idle. That’s optional, BTD6 is one of those games that allows that though.
I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere, but I strongly recommend Melvor Idle to anyone who has nostalgia for Runescape. It's a very in-depth "love letter" to Runescape with its own unique aspects.
These games are like fidget-spinners in game form - they're amusing and have their own intrigue and skill but of course you're not really getting much done.
I purchased Melvor Idle because of your comment, didn't even read the store page, just hit buy. We'll see how it goes.
NGU Idle is the best idle game of all time literally takes a year of daily playing to beat
Idk man, i got bored really quick. Mechanics are too repetitive to me :/
there’s another idle game that is super underrated, Cell to Singularity. It has a lot of creative mechanics based on real life evolution and important historical events (like the James Webb telescope, 5 mass extinctions, philosophy, and fungi) free to playa no is still updated weekly
“And when the world needed Him the most…”
“Stryxo Returned!”
I legit, like, reported this comment bro. Hope you learned your lesson from this crap.
For Idle games, I really enjoy Universal paperclips. It has a good progression and nothing ever seems too slow or too fast. It certainly isn't as long as some other Idle games but it does have a nice flow of the previously mentioned progression.
As someone who has sunk hundreds of hours into clicker heroes, I can definitely say the most appealing part to me is big number go up. Even just watching the hours on steam go up after I leave the game afk while I'm off at school or work is really satisfying to me.
Something that i noticed about myself is i tend to subconsciously gravitate towards idle games whenever I'm busy
i as an idle game player find that you described the genre appropriately. and to add to your list of recommendable games i would add "Idling to rule the gods"
It's nice hearing windmill isle at the beginning of each of your videos because it is the best sonic ost I have ever heard
Great to see a new video of yours finally back in my feed! Video was great as always, keep up the hard work.
You honestly make really good vids, my attention is held throughout and I tend to end up talking to myself discussing the points you made, didn't really expect to be so entertained
there’s an idle game on cool math games that involves just an infinite pong type system, where balls spawn and have to destroy the blocks, but there’s the prestige mechanic, different types of balls that you can buy, and even bosses you can fight that are weak against a specific type of ball or strong against another, it’s very fun
here's a few more good ones, since I love idle games. NGU is pretty good but a longg game. Synergism has many prestige tiers, but once you get late into ascension it suffers from needing guides because of the corruption mechanic. (At least there *are* guides, easily accessible on their discord, but it makes the game worse imo.) Jacorb's distance incremental falls under the same boat, but prestige tree is about a week of fun. One that I can really recommend is the perfect tower and the perfect tower 2. These ones are just a really fun time of trying to get your tower to the furthest extremes possible. Finally, one of the best idle games I could recommend is idle skilling. There's many, many tabs, which makes it avoid one problem most idle games have. In most idle games, there comes a point where there's simply nothing more to do, and you have to wait a while. You can click to speed up and stuff but you're basically just waiting. With the sheer amount of things you can be doing though, there's very little to worry about in terms of that for idle skilling. Anyways, hopes this helps someone find some nice games.
I found one for the iphone called elvenar. Basically an idle game mixed with a city builder. Its my favorite idle game just because of the wrapping paper - building a city vs getting cookies.
Let me say this first: I really enjoyed the video and I completely agree with your opinions on the genre.
It's funny how you uploaded this video about this particular topic just two days after I decided to stop playing this idle game called NGU Idle.
After almost 1800 hours of semi-active play I managed to advance to the next difficulty, only to find out that almost all of my progress on the previous difficulty is almost nullified. It made me feel like all of that time of me running the game even in the background was pointless, and as you've mentioned in the video, the feeling that I wasted a lot of time with the game was starting to sink in.
I decided to play games that are actually interactive and give me the same sense of progression in a way shorter amount of time.
Evil difficulty is a bitch. i put the game away for 1/2 a year after reaching to give me a pool of PP and EXP to boost me out of the hellhole that is early evil and i was able to reach titan 7 in about a week which has blown a completely new life into the game :D
the grind at the end of Evil is the worst. it took me this calendar year to get from Exile v1 to Exile v4, i just started Sad difficulty two weeks ago. i've been playing for almost two years and it's definitely among the best in the genre. you do not lose anything when progressing to the next difficulty, the expenses just increase in magnitude. so if you spend more time and effort on Easy, you'll be in a better place in Evil than if you start right away. each difficulty comes with new challenges and unique rewards and more powerful upgrades to unlock.
IDLE GAMES IN A NUT
>click
>get a unit of game currency
>click more to buy an upgrade
>u now click double
>neuron activation
Clickpocalapse 2 is fantastic in this genre. Aswell as spaceplan
My favorite idle games are all the TechTreeGames games. They have a nice simple art style, no required ads, rewards if you choose to watch ads. Theyre just nice.
I like Cell to Singularity as an Idle game because it also teaches a lot of science stuff while you see numbers go up, very fun game
Universal paperclips got me hoocked for a whole week lmao
My personal all time favorite Idle game is MelvorIdle, mainly because it has the end goal of 100% completion. Knowing where the game will end makes the everlasting bigger number chase more tangible for me, and therefore it feels less like a waste of time. Would highly recommend.
Melvor Idle (an idle based off of, and now published by, RuneScape) is by far my favorite, and one of my favorite games of all time now. It perfectly captures everything I want in a game right now.
Candy Box #1 and #2 (the game Cookie Clicker was inspired by) was super good as well. I think it went offline a few years ago, unfortunately.
Kittens Game is good civ builder idler. You can not just make number bigger, you can unlock new numbers to grow! It has several prestige/perma upgrade mechanics.. And it all starts with you being a kitten in the catnip forest!
I really enjoyed NGU Idle. By far the best idle game I've played. Great mechanics, pacing, community and humor.
I feel the same way about idle games that I think of like clash of clans were it is that it is fun to check in 1-2 a day and have it be fun and thats that, you can play an idle game without being as involved as other games like minecraft, in minecraft I will usually be brainstorming what I will do the next time I play it whereas idle games are more of a daily log on do something small and go and do something else.
omfg you just finally made me remember grindcraft ater trying to remember its name for years!
If universal paper clips isn’t here I will file a formal complaint with God
"Bigger number, emptier feeling" me too bud
i really like puzzles and optimation so these idles games rack my brain trying to find the most efficent method without making me too mentally tired like other puzzle games. I think one understated thing i also like playing these games with my friends to see who progresses fastest but one person will usuallly just play way more than the others and blow right ahead. but ultimately i love when slow grindy things become easy and quick from prestiging and the number go big really quick. As for viewing it as a waste of time i view it as a persevation of mental energy I can often get burnt out of bigger games like city skylines or factorio but these idle games are simple, usually free, and not mentally taxing i can sit there and watch my show and turn my brain off
I scratch that "big number" itch with automation games like satisfactory, seeing that big number or conveyor line and knowing you built is is great
You guys gotta try Idle Breakout if you like idle games. Its a game from coolmath games (that one website kids used when they procrastinate in school) where you can upgrade balls, make money, get better upgrades, until you max out everything. The game also has prestige in the form of gold ingots which you get after a certain amount of levels which you can collect by resetting but use them for OP upgrades to get back to where you were faster
That feeling when your favorite TH-camr posts
I knew this was coming whenever you brought up that you were playing Cookie Clicker in that one WildSpartanz video
What can i say...Very informational video, well edited ! Worth a subscribe!
egg inc. is one of my personal favorite idle games
You spent a few hours into the most basic cookie cutter idle games you found on steam (a place you should not look for idle games).
Cookie clicker (like the other 3 mentioned idle games) is the most bare bones and idle game can get, it a LOT of time of new buildings and REALLY simple number multipliers to get to the prestige that is just a little faster progress. On the other hand a game like antimatter dimensions has you very involved, especially in the late game, and it constantly gives you new upgrades, features, and mechanics that you have to try to use properly to get to the next "achievement", whether that be unlocking an upgrade, getting an actual in-game achievement, reaching a certain milestone etc.
"Bigger number, better person" shows a low effort idle game.
POGGERS NEW STRYXO UPLOAD
Hey daddy
I love idle games because they're one of the few games you can play while watching an anime or something
you played an old version of grindcraft, the current version has a proper ending and a mute button
I was a big fan of idle slayer. I recommend it. it is cool. you can play it 100% idle but being active does give you some benefits like a bonus stage. pretty cool
did not realize how many idle games there are
The IDLE world is huge, you have a variety of different types, with very cool mechanics out there. I recommend 2 : Trimps (on Steam or browser) and kittens game .. this are games where you will invest a lot of months/years, but they will be worth it to play it.
Glad to see more people make content on idle games
I have an ongoing cookie clicker save that I play every day. I use a fully idle strat where all I do is trade stocks, pop wrinklers and buy more buildings and upgrades. I just keep the tab open to poke at whenever I hit a transition art period or need to wait for something for a few minutes. It's a nice little release that doesn't suck me in and waste a bunch of time because of the way I have it set up.
I used to really enjoy Abyssrium. It had really peaceful and pretty graphics of the sea creatures which swim around and it gave you new creatures to work towards. I think the increasing addition of in-app purchases and events made it feel more insidious and less enjoyable though
My favorite idle/incremental game is Idle Wizard. There are soo much mechanics and stuff you can do and progression you can do, but has one major drawback is that you NEED to follow guides otherwise you won't be able to progress much and the other drawback is that not every class is viable, but still 10/10 game I love it. (2000 hours on the game :D)
and to imagine you've only scratched the surface. I recommend you look into "universal paperclips", a relatively short incremental with an ending, a story, and a message all baked into it. Still, you choose what you play, and I certainly did enjoy your opinion piece on the genre.
Yes, I live universal paperclips! It's such a strange experience but definitely one I'm glad I had. Also, I think the way that the context of an idle game leads the player to try and optimize time till dramatically more paperclips mimics the fact that in world the AI is also doing the exact same thing.
Spoilers: (actually seriously, this game is best experienced blind)
I think one of my favorite moments was when hypnodrones popped up and I was like, "ok, cool need trust to progress... oh, I know I'll cure cancer so the humans trust me more! Then solve world piece, etc, etc. Then, the moment that you can you single handedly take over the world and convert it into a giant paperclip factory. Destroying every lifeform on the planet not out of malice but indifference. Probably the best explanation of why unaligned AGI is scary and why unchecked capitalism is dangerous. Lmao
Antimatter dimensions has a bunch of references to that game and AD is pretty good.. pretty slow progression sometimes though
two amazing clicker games to play, that both have endings:
- infinite paperclips
- spaceplan
I play a lot of Crusader of The Lost Idles. That isn't a clicker game but just an idle one and it is very complex because you not only collect idols from resets but characters you put in different formations to try and go deeper
there was this game called spark or sth where you literally started as a single atom and had to gain mass to horrendous numbers i couldn't even pronounce right
one of my favorite mobile games of all time
I opened this video so i can binge play Leaf Blower Revolution while listening this
Great video! I've never been super into idlegames, yet I really liked to hear what you had to say on the topic!
Was really expecting to see Legends of IdleOn in this list. It has a great balance of idle and active play and it's the first Idle game that has a goal besides Bigger Numbers.
it became increasingly p2w, before the third world came out you could spend like 20€ to buy everything now you need over 100 even if the gem currency is available in free to play
note about leaf blower - as someone with literally 2000 damn hours in that game, it has a third prestige layer and materials and a lot of different areas. It's crazy.
1:11 cool mgsv reference there
you should do tower defense games next. they are fun lol
There is just Somethingggg so satisfying about Numbers Going Up.
Seriously NGU idle is fucking amazing. The story is great, the references are great, there is a beautiful badly drawn kitty...
Then there is kittens game, if you want an idle game you can very much fail at, kittens game will have you look away for two seconds and suddenly you have 500 more dead kittens than you even have room for in your village.
A dark room and universal paperclips are both beautiful games. I don't want to spoil anything about either of them, but even if you hate idle games with a passion, try these two. Universal paperclips might seem like nothing special on the surface, but holy fuck it gets good.
I made one of the first viral clicker games back in 2005 actually. It was called king of buttons. But that was before the smartphone era.
You all are really missing out if you like these types of games and haven’t tried Spaceplan. It doesn’t have prestige mechanics and such from what I remember, but it has a fun little story that’s kind of humorous.
Some of the best incremental games go completely unmentioned in this video and require a try to see some gems. Most idle games are copy-pasted mobile garbage, but deemphasis on graphics allows solo developers to create very mechanically complicated games with interesting progression.
Synergism is an antimatter dimensions style game with incredible synergy (ha ha) between all the mechanics and is still being updated.
Evolve Idle has massive amounts of content and is very similar to kittens game, but better in many ways I would say. It also still receives updates. I love the theming and the mechanical evolution.
Finally, my current favorite is Idle Loops, which has really fun story-mechanic synergy. Be sure to play the modified version that adds content, as the original developer has abandoned it.
Every video game is just watching numbers go up. Why not cut out the middle man?
Also, have you ever not played a game of Minecraft or City Skylines for months, just to then come back and realize that you forgot everything about the savefile, to the point, that you are almost forced to start a new game from scratch? Happens to me regularly. Bot doesn't really happen to me in an idle game.
The reason for idle games to exist is to that Dangerously Funny can play them so I don't have to. Because when he plays them, they're extremely satisfying. Don't know if I'll ever play them though...
2 very different kind of idle games that are also good is Candybox 1/2 and The Dark Room. I can't recommend them enough if you are just getting interested in these type of games. Also of course: Universal Paperclips
Hey Stryxo, I really hope you see this, but I just wanted to say I'm really proud of you as a TH-camr. You're not afraid to cover whatever you want, and you're so involved with your community it's incredible. You've legitimately became my favorite TH-camr and I get so excited when I see an upload of yours. Thank you so much for all you do, hope life is going well for you outside of this as well :)
Idle Slayer. Best one out there.
Real idle games to me, are the ones that you do a few tasks, and then must turn off the game til hours/days later before it will let you do more.
one underrated idle game is the moble game idle supermarket tycoon
I could not have expected a positive take less. Nice
As a leaf blower revoultion expert it is very bad example because we use 5 strolls and upgrade our items and it go crazy later on
My favorites are Candy Box, NGU Idle, Structure, and Trimps.
Grindcraft is my childhood game i loved playing this!
I cannot express the sheer horror I went through when I saw my cookie clicker save went through the Hellish landscape that is the Grandmapocalypse. It's made more evident because my gf played the game sometime ago and just pressed on the One Mind upgrade that triggers the Event, without knowing this I was pondering about wtf just happened
one you should've tried (shown on the steam page in the video) is melvor idle, little more expensive than most clickers but in my opinion far more "rewarding" and not quite as idle as the others.
it's basically idle runescape, you go through dungeons, level skills, but unlike your average idle game there's no prestige, skills can go up theoretically forever, but once you get to 99 (120 in the expansion) you're sort of done, there's even a completion long for how what items you've owned, pets you've found, dungeons you've completed etc. the thing i like about it over a lot of idle games is you still get that addictive "number go up" feeling, but it doesn't feel hollow, because there's an end point, a goal to reach and feel excitement over, like getting a 99 in runescape, you feel like you earned it, there's plenty of ways to go about levelling skills in different orders, do you train one skill or train another that has an item that trains the first ? and dungeons and monsters require quite a bit of thought, it's not just number go up into ballbagillion, there's end points. and a hardcore mode where your save is deleted if you die, you can win, and you can lose, but it's still idle.
there's also games like (i forgot the name) reactor idle or factory idle, where you really have to think about your strategys, the one's you've picked are very "normal" and it's a bigger genre than just the surface ones
i love leaf blower and played it from day 1, so glad to see it mentioned in a video
SLICING DEAMONS IN HALF, cute little fox
The difference between idle and incremental games is a matter of development philosophy. There are tons of great games at broken mouse convention
The difference between idle games and incremental games is not development philosophy, what most people consider idle games are just a sub genre of incremental games.
What I think people like the most in the idling games and many similar genres is progression. You start small, and become much more "powerful", your tasks get automated etc. The problem is the moment when you realise, that the progress is meaningless. Then I could drop game in seconds. The hard part of the game is to keep the illusion that there is a real goal and real progress to be made. Good way is to make every next upgrade meaningful enough and in sweet spot- not too far away to loose interest, and not too close to become effortless and your work meaningless. Not many games can do this though...
It would also help if those games wouldn't be extremely linear, where your strategy usually does not matter that much, or you can just find best strategy online. There often are several strategies, but the way games are balanced, you have to find the optimal strategy and there are not many very different builds that can compete. Usually.
Casually playing alpha minecraft? Giga Chad energy.
There's an idle game I really like called Cell to Singularity that is similar to Cookie Clicker but teaches about evolution and stuff
lovely game
These are rather surface level intro games to the idle/incremental game genre. There are many games that are much deeper and have some real story to them which in my opinion can really help with the feeling of wasting your time. One good game for a next layer deep kind of game would be spaceplan, it is a relatively short game with a small story and can be very entertaining.
due to unforseen circumstances, i now have 9 nonillion total cookies
uhh the leaf guys are tryna get leaves and use them to buy updrades