Creating your own idle or incremental game is a rewarding project that offers a fun way to learn game development. These games, where players advance by performing simple actions over time, are highly popular and act as a practical learning tool for developing different skills. If executed well, building an idle game can also generate passive income, earning money with minimal continuous effort.
Creating an idle game is a fantastic journey that brings many benefits. It allows you to delve into game design, coding, and monetization in a fun and manageable way. In this easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through each exciting stage of making your very own idle game. From brainstorming your initial style ideas to choosing the best tools and implementing clever monetization strategies, this guide is here to help you gain the skills and confidence you need to bring your game to life and share it with others.
Idle games, also called incremental, clicker, or passive games, let players advance without constant play. They involve simple actions like clicking or automating tasks, unlocking new levels, features, or resources. Designed to be addictive and satisfying, they motivate players to check back frequently to see progress and collect rewards.
These games are designed to keep players engaged long-term. They are often played in short bursts and are easy to learn, with minimal rules and simple mechanics for broad appeal. Despite their simplicity, they can be strategically deep, requiring resource management or upgrades for progress. Social features like sharing and competing with friends enhance their attractiveness.
Numerous idle games are available on both platforms. Here are some of the top examples. The following list features idle games for iOS:
Here are a few examples of the best idle games for Android:
Creating your own idle game is an exciting journey. It involves finalizing the core loop and then sharing it with players. Along the way, you’ll design the game flow, develop the currency system, polish the gameplay, and thoroughly test everything to make it the best it can be. Here’s some helpful information on how to craft your perfect idle game.
This stage underscores the significance of understanding the fundamental gameplay mechanics of the game. These mechanics serve as the driving force behind idle games, which generally involve repetitive, incremental actions that players perform to achieve progress. Examples of idle games with core gameplay loops include:
This step focuses on outlining the main idea and theme of the game. It involves defining the game’s setting, characters, and overall objective. Establishing these core elements creates a strong foundation for the game development process, guiding all future design choices to align with your original vision. Here is an example of how to define the game concept:
In this stage, it is essential to concentrate on delineating the development of the game progression (the game flow) and on the creation of visual and interactive components. This process includes designing menus, buttons, screens, and the overall layout to guarantee an intuitive and engaging user experience. Users primarily interact with the game flow and user interface (UI) of the game. The tools employed for UI/UX design are as follows:
This step involves choosing the right technology stack that will effectively support your project. This choice is vital because it impacts the development process, scalability, and maintenance of your application.
When selecting game development tools and frameworks, consider factors like compatibility, community support, and potential for future growth. Carefully assessing your options helps ensure your technology choices match your project goals and facilitate smooth development and deployment.
In this step, you’ll establish the basic economic infrastructure for your game. Building a solid currency system includes designing its mechanics, setting its value, and defining how it functions within the ecosystem. This creates a functional and sustainable economy for your platform, promoting user engagement and long-term development.
Developing an upgrade system is an exciting step that helps boost player engagement and adds a rewarding sense of progression. Usually, this involves creating fun and intuitive ways for players to enhance their characters, weapons, or abilities as they go on their journey.
Implementing a strong upgrade system demands thoughtful planning to strike a balance between challenge and reward, promote exploration, and integrate smoothly with the game’s main mechanics.
This step requires implementing a prestige or reset system within your game or platform. It enables players or users to reset their progress after hitting a specific milestone, typically in return for rewards such as enhanced abilities or additional bonuses for future attempts.
The reset mechanism boosts replayability and engagement by incentivizing performance improvement before resetting. Clear conditions for reset, reward distribution, and progress management are essential. Proper integration of the prestige system can greatly enhance user motivation and extend the application’s or game’s lifespan.
This key step in game development lets users save and retrieve progress. A reliable save/load system preserves data integrity and improves user experience by enabling seamless continuation without data loss. It involves functions to save data to a file/database and load it when needed.
Designing this feature requires considering file formats, error handling, and compatibility across software versions. A good save/load system is crucial for user trust and data consistency. Here are your options:
This step is all about refining your game with a keen eye for details and beautiful visuals. You’ll take a moment to review the overall design, make some necessary adjustments to give it that polished look, and ensure that all visual cues clearly and warmly communicate with players, making the experience more engaging and intuitive.
Including clear, intuitive feedback not only boosts user experience but also gives the final product a professional look. Carefully finishing this step helps complete the project, making it more engaging and visually appealing. Idle games must feel satisfying; for that, you need to use:
Monetization is crucial in projects or businesses, involving strategies to generate revenue from products or services. Effective monetization ensures sustainability and growth by turning user engagement into revenue gains.
This step needs careful planning, understanding the target audience, and choosing revenue streams like subscriptions, ads, or product sales. Implementing these strategies can boost profitability and long-term success. Common options in idle games include:
This penultimate phase is essential for making sure your system works at its best. Testing helps identify any problems or areas for improvement. Balancing involves adjusting different parts to achieve optimal performance.
Finally, iteration is all about going through the process again and again until you achieve what you’re aiming for. By taking the time to thoroughly test, tweak, and keep refining your approach, you’ll be able to optimize your setup and enjoy long-term success.
After completing all preliminary steps, it’s time to launch and actively promote your game. This phase includes sharing your work with the target audience via channels like social media, email campaigns, press releases, and partnerships. Popular launch platforms include:
Effective promotion helps your efforts reach a broader audience, attract interest, and boost engagement. Be sure to track how well your promotional activities perform and adjust them as needed to enhance your project’s visibility and success. Common promotion sites include:
Here is a quick description of the steps involved in the idle game development.
| Component | Description | Tools / Examples |
| Game Theme | The overall setting or idea behind your game. | Space Mining, Empire Building, Idle Farm |
| Currency System | The resource(s) players earn and spend. | Coins, XP, Energy, Gems |
| Upgrade Mechanics | Unlockables that improve passive/active income. | Buildings, Workers, Auto-Clickers |
| Core Loop | Earn → Upgrade → Earn More → Prestige | Loop every idle game follows |
| Prestige System | Reset progress in exchange for permanent boosts. | “Rebirth”, “Ascend”, “Start a New World” |
| Progression Curve | Controls how costs and earnings scale over time. | Exponential (e.g., cost = base * 1.15^level) |
| Save System | Stores players’ progress locally or in the cloud. | LocalStorage, Firebase, PlayerPrefs |
| Game Engine | Platform to build and deploy your game. | Unity (C#), Godot, Phaser (JS), GDevelop |
| Target Platforms | Where players can access your game. | Web, Android, iOS, Steam |
| UI/UX Design | Layout of buttons, resource counters, and upgrade trees. | Figma, Adobe XD |
| Monetization Options | How do you generate revenue? | Ads, In-app purchases, Cosmetics |
| Promotion Channels | Communities and platforms to share your game. | Reddit, TikTok, Twitter/X, Discord |
In summary, creating your own idle game is a fulfilling endeavor that blends creativity and coding abilities. By following the detailed steps provided earlier, you’ll craft a game that both entertains and deepens your knowledge of game design and development. Approach the process with enthusiasm, explore different ideas freely, and you’ll be amazed at what you’re capable of building.
If you need any solutions related to idle games, you can contact BR Softech, a prominent Idle game development company. We can help you through all the steps and will also provide post-launch support.
Ans. An idle game, a.k.a. incremental or clicker game, is a game where the player progresses over time, even with minimal or no interaction. The game often continues generating in-game rewards or resources while the player is offline.
Ans. Yes, most idle games simulate progress while you are away by calculating how much time has passed and awarding resources accordingly when you return.
Ans. The main goal is to optimize your resource generation, unlock upgrades, and progress through increasingly powerful stages. Many games also include prestige or rebirth systems to reset progress for permanent bonuses.
Ans. Most idle games are free-to-play, especially on mobile and web platforms. However, they often include optional in-app purchases or ads for faster progression or cosmetic upgrades.
Ans. A simple indie game might cost $2,000–$10,000, while a polished Web3 game can exceed $50,000. Using free tools and assets can significantly reduce development expenses.
