Idle and clicker games

Some games demand your full attention; others happily carry on while you do something else. Idle games, also known as clicker or incremental games, start you off with almost nothing and let you automate your way to a booming operation. Whether you're running a mine, a factory, a space colony or a chain of diners, watching the numbers snowball is half the fun.

You'll click a lot at first, but real progress comes from managers and automation upgrades. Spend early earnings on anything that produces a steady income and later stages will fly by. If a game offers a prestige or rebirth option that resets progress in exchange for a permanent bonus, don't be afraid to use it, as the first reset usually gives a huge boost.

Most of these games store progress in your browser, so you can close the tab and come back later to a pile of offline earnings. They play on desktop and mobile with nothing to download.