Best/Worst Games for the Obsessive Compulsive Gamer

Written by Laura Brown

Idle, incremental, and clicker games, are they good or bad for people who obsess about things? Can an online game like Cookie Clicker help you beat the worse (less physically healthy) habit of chain smoking? Maybe. Luckily, I'm not a smoker so I can't test out that theory.

But, I thought I would post about my habit, limited obsession, mild addiction, with idle games. They probably are not healthy but, I do wear out some of my obsessive compulsive energy madly making progress while knowing it really doesn't matter at all. It also doesn't bother anyone, and its been a little secret I've kept hoarded to myself, until now.

What are idle, incremental or clicker games?

Any simple (usually fairly uncomplicated) game in which you increase your score in whatever format: points, gold, cookies, cows, candy... anything. I don't think any of these games have an ending. They just keep going with new additions, features, and fluff. Like so many Facebook games, you work to get stuff but you actually have nothing. Little image files you don't own, no copyrights. Why would anyone play such games, you might wonder. Try one and see. But, don't get addicted to it. Be careful, it sneaks up on you.

How about a list of Idle and Clicker Games to Become Madly Focused and Obsessed With:

I know there are others. I've played others. These four seem to be the ones I've stuck with, or come back to and stuck with again, and again. At least two of them are also on the Steam site. Most of them are free to play, or to start playing.