The word “clicker”, of course, comes from the bourgeois – click, click, click with the mouse. This is the sound that a computer mouse makes when a button is pressed, and this is also the sound that was played when pressed in many versions of windows. The whole genre of clicker games is built on this, on ballroom clicks with the mouse, or on “clicks” on the screen of the device (smartphone or tablet). Although in fact the name clicker games is not entirely correct, since touching the touch screen with your finger is called “tap”.
The essence of clicker games is in clicks, rather simple clicks. We expect a linear gameplay, usually without options (although there are different variations), and the notorious grind (pumping and obtaining game resources) with the help of these clicks. You press, fill yourself with experience or gold, then buy a better sword and level up, press further. For now, go through some stages – levels. Everything is very simple and linear.
Even a woodpecker can play clicker with its beak. The fish can pass the clicker with its fin. Do not confuse this genre with games like “Idle” (Simple, lazy, passive).
This is a similar genre of games and is sometimes combined with a clicker, but the essence of the Idle genre is that you start some processes there and everything else happens automatically. The genre is even lighter than clickers. On the site Hahagames I stumbled upon it, but the choice there was huge. Despite the terrible ease of this genre, I remember how I recently installed Progress Quest and stuck for 4 hours. Under these games, it’s great to meditate and stick.
Considered the progenitor of all clickers, Progress Quest started out as a parody of the MMORPG, but eventually spawned an entire genre. The player creates a character in the clichéd editor found in almost every RPG and goes through procedurally generated events. In addition to creating a character, there is nothing special in the gameplay, and the player can only watch how events develop. Progress Quest may seem like a mind-bogglingly simple game, but it has a certain charm that makes for a truly relaxing experience without falling asleep. If you’ve heard of such indie hit as Loop Hero, it is based on a similar concept, which did not prevent him from receiving several prestigious awards and nominations.