Not So Idle Games
I play and talk a lot about rpgs and visual novels on Mastodon, but less so about my love of idle games. One of my first was probably Cookie Clicker, but I've since moved on to more robust games, such as Melvor Idle or Factory Town Idle. Two very different games, in the grand scheme of things. One is firmly rooted in high fantasy, the other more on the low end of the spectrum.
With Melvor Idle, I can satisfy those adventure and gathering cravings. At the moment, I am farming logs for later crafting ventures. With Factory Town Idle, I get to watch my towns grow and expand, and have technically beaten the game. I want to last two achievements, however; to click a certain amount of times (real tedious, but doable), and to get all my towns to level fifty. Only one is there at the moment, with the other trailing behind.
And I can't talk about idle games without mentioning one of my absolute faves, which is essentially an interactive screensaver: Chillquarium!
In Chillquarium, you decorate and raise fish in aquariums. There are several different fish to buy: freshwater, rivers, ponds, reef, marine dwellers, and the giants! I've only just bought my first bunch of marine fish, which are rather expensive. $50,000,000 for a pack of five! It'll take me ages before I can afford to buy a pack of giants, and longer to collect the rest of the upgrades (lighting, pebbles, decorations), but I am determined.
Oh, and how does one buy fish and items, you ask? Here's the neat thing: the fish generate income for you! One of my tanks earns as little as 23k an hour, another earns 17k a minute. I sure wish that was the case out here in the real world...talk about passive income!
I'll be wrapping up Factory Town Idle by the end of the month, but the other two will continue on as my main two idle games for at least another year or so. The thing about idle games is that I don't get burned out as fast as other games, since they can be set aside for hours or days at a time. Well...Factory Town Idle eats up a few hours a day because I get super sucked into it (AKA hyperfixated!). But that's also time that can be better spent pursuing other passions, such as writing...
And speaking of, I need to start drafting a chapter for Last Train Home soon!
