Incremental game

Incremental games are a type of upgrade game which is focused on minimal and repetitive gameplay, such as clicking or tapping the screen. This minimal gameplay allows the upgrading and gameplay to take place simultaneously. In many incremental games, the main form of interaction is often quickly automated and the player is expected to leave the game running in the background (also referred to as "idling") as currency is generated.

Early forms of incremental games, such as Progress Quest (2002), served to parody the sorts of grinding that is sometimes seen in RPGs, and, in particular, auto-attack mechanics in MMORPGs. However, following the surge of idle construction games following FarmVille (2009), the genre would begin to move in a direction more closely aligned with business simulations and other kinds of management games. Mobile variants of incremental games would often implement optional microtransactions which allowed players to skip portions of the game in exchange for payment of real-world currency.

Incremental games as a movement, however, were largely popularized by the game Cookie Clicker (2013). Cookie Clicker would also go on to set many traditions within the genre, such as large exponential growth of the in-game currency over time, and the addition of a form of New Game+ which resets the player's progress in exchange for permanent upgrades which persist for all future runs.