An investigation of compulsive interactions and mechanics in incremental idle clickers

Abstract: Incremental idle clickers is a genre of games where gameplay revolves aroundsimple interactions like clicking the screen repeatedly to accumulatecurrency. The clicking action is often automatized by the game. This thesisinvestigates qualities that make interactions in incremental idle clickerscompulsive and motivating. The incremental idle clickers genre adoptsmechanics and interactions that were experienced as compelling, motivatingand anxiety-inducing. The “idle” mechanic allows the game to run withoutplayer interaction and proved to be central in relation to the playerexperience. Through a user-centered design-process, the compulsive andmotivating nature can be suggested to emerge from three major experiencesof the genre, “Monotony”, “Intrusive omnipresence” and “Demanding”. Theresult includes a discovery of the ambiguous tension and balance betweeninteractivity and interpassivity in the genre. Finding this balance may provebeneficial to the player experience. I identified ethical challenges concerningthe game depriving players of satisfying gameplay.