kopi-pasted

I don't have a precise idea of what my dream incremental game is. There are usually minor changes to it from one day to the next. However, there are a few traits that pop up most of the time. I'll list them down, in no particular order.

Long-term and 'open-world' - I like the feeling of discovering mechanics and how to use them in incremental games. I like it when an incremental game allows me some flexibility in my play style. I generally want to feel like my save file is 'mine', that it represents a journey that is uniquely mine. Subtle storytelling and thematic cohesion - This is good in general. However, the thing I'm particularly looking for is a sort of story-focused representation of progress - that as I progress I'm exploring more of a world or growing something. 'Easy to learn, hard to master' - My dream incremental game tends to have a decently sized set of mechanics introduced at the start, and accumulates new mechanics very gradually. However, there is lots of room for optimization and discovery with just the core mechanics. Each newly introduced mechanic should act as a natural extension to existing mechanics, broadening the range of possibilities and altering your optimization process (so, paradigm shifts). Small numbers - The game shouldn't need to use big number libraries. If no numbers ever have any chance to go beyond a quadrillion (which I consider dangerously close to Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER in JavaScript), even better. Distinct art style - Even just simple graphics will do, that makes it stand out from most incremental games already simply by virtue of existing. Just don't let it Either really idle or really active - It should either be really active in the sense that no progress can be made without direct player interaction, or really idle in the sense that the game can still progress at a significant rate can even after a month or so of idle time (Still allow some player interaction, of course. See Gooboo for an example of what I'm trying to convey.)

I wonder what became of this.

Been playing EXP Simulator recently. I like it more than zakuro98's other game Spice Idle. It's nice although my favorite part of it (first prestige layer) has long since passed.

Been playing EXP Simulator recently. I like it more than zakuro98's other game Spice Idle. It's nice although my favorite part of it (first prestige layer) has long since passed.

I've been thinking of how to handle the issue of accessibility of Cavernous II, which is a game in which you are in control of multiple agents and need to find optimal routes to goals using them. After a lot of thought, I concluded that the best way to resolve this would be to abandon the idea of multiple timelines entirely, instead opting for a single timeline where all agents can be controlled. This is rather similar to how most games handle fine-grained control of multiple characters. I don't think this system would work well for the game as it is though since a: such a method would lessen the benefits of existing routes from boosts, forcing one to rewrite routes just to make minor edits b: the routes in cavernous are quite long and this system makes creating routes more time-consuming.

I've also been thinking about the primary mechanic of a somewhat old mobile (non-incremental) game called Robotek, which is choosing a slot machine, pulling it, and then performing actions based on the results. There's a significant amount of luck but also a significant amount of control. I feel like such a mechanic can be transferred rather seamlessly into an incremental context. Dunno Dice has a similar mechanic (the primary difference being that you gain resources instead of taking actions) and I find it to be a fun game.

I've been thinking of how to handle the issue of accessibility of Cavernous II, which is a game in which you are in control of multiple agents and need to find optimal routes to goals using them. After a lot of thought, I concluded that the best way to resolve this would be to abandon the idea of multiple timelines entirely, instead opting for a single timeline where all agents can be controlled. This is rather similar to how most games handle fine-grained control of multiple characters. I don't think this system would work well for the game as it is though since a: such a method would lessen the benefits of existing routes from boosts, forcing one to rewrite routes just to make minor edits b: the routes in cavernous are quite long and this system makes creating routes more time-consuming.

I've also been thinking about the primary mechanic of a somewhat old mobile (non-incremental) game called Robotek, which is choosing a slot machine, pulling it, and then performing actions based on the results. There's a significant amount of luck but also a significant amount of control. I feel like such a mechanic can be transferred rather seamlessly into an incremental context. Dunno Dice has a similar mechanic (the primary difference being that you gain resources instead of taking actions) and I find it to be a fun game.