When it comes to gaming, I usually play console games at home, and I was never one to download too many games on my phone. Most of them tend to be pretty repetitive and I end up losing interest after a few days. This all changed when I found a genre of games that were made to kill time— idle games. Also known as incremental games, the gameplay is extremely simple — the player basically does the bare minimum, such as repeatedly tapping or clicking on the screen to earn some form of in-game currency. The more you play, the more you unlock, and for some games, at some point the game plays itself, with user interaction becoming pretty unnecessary.
If you’ve been looking for games to play for the sole purpose of killing time, or you’ve just been wanting to keep your hands busy, these are the games for you. Now, when you find yourself instinctually reaching for your phone, you have a few more adorable options to play around with.
1. Animal Restaurant
The plot is simple: You’re the owner of Animal Restaurant, and your goal is to serve as many customers as you can, earning as much cod as you can while expanding your menu, staff, and so on. With adorable graphics and consistent rewards, it would be difficult to not spark an addiction to this game. The thing that reeled me in was the slow but constant story development. The further you go in the game, not only do you unlock new recipes and facilities, but each new guest you serve comes with a snippet of a backstory. At some point, a mailbox is unlocked, where letters will occasionally arrive from various customers you’ve met. Gradual character development is usually what it takes to get me hooked to a game, especially in a form as cute as this.
Animal Restaurant Is available on iOS and Android.
2. Tiny Pixel Farm
Like its title, the game is simple. You operate a tiny farm and eventually collect every animal there is. Each animal comes with their own purpose — sheep provide wool, chickens lay eggs and pigs…serve pork chops? As a farmer, your job is to keep farming, keep harvesting and basically keep collecting as many coins as you can. As you level up, the coins can be used to unlock and upgrade every feature on the farm. Unlike similar games that usually have infinite gameplay, Tiny Pixel Farm is very completable. You’ll eventually unlock everything, and that’ll be the end of it. More features may come with future upgrades of the app itself, but if you’re looking for instant gratification and pixellated animals, this is the one for you.
Tiny Pixel Farm is available on iOS and Android.
3. Food Truck Pup: Cooking Chef
From the creators of Tiny Pixel Farm comes Food Truck Pup, and it’s equally as addictive and adorable. With a team consisting of various pups, the game is pretty straightforward — as you’re running your own food truck, serving crepes to all the hungry animals in town, you can purchase furniture, take pictures and unlock every location there is to fully dominate the food truck empire. Unlike its farming counterpart, there aren’t as many features to unlock, and there isn’t really a way to “complete” the game. Apart from the general action of selling crepes, there are also a couple of mini games, designed to help you out with a few extra features.
Food Truck Pup: Cooking Chef is available on iOS and Android.
4. Animal Hot Springs
As you’ve probably realised, the one thing every game has in common is that they’re all very animal-centric. Similar to the games we’ve mentioned so far, in Animal Hot Springs, players manage a bathhouse and cater to the demands of your animal guests. As you progress, you earn acorns, unlock new animals and facilities and raise your reputation to get your bathhouse to the best level possible. The more animals you have in your tub, the better! Throughout the game, players get to unlock different baths, install showers, and finally, unlock the sauna at level 20. This is probably the slowest game of the lot so far, and it definitely serves as a good stress-reliever.
Animal Hot Springs is available on iOS and Android.
5. Monument Valley
While it’s not an idle game, Monument Valley is definitely high on the list of easy to play games. Highly praised for both its art and sound design, one might say it’s the mobile equivalent of the equally aesthetically-pleasing Journey. The story-based puzzle game follows the player through various mazes, referred to as “sacred-geometry”. Interactions with features of changing environment, such as platforms, pillars and bridges, in each level allows the player to move through and eventually exit to the next map.
There are currently two versions of the game available, Monument Valley and Monument Valley 2. While both games are fairly easy to play, the latter displays a little more range in the design of each level and is more story-driven than the former. Monument Valley 3 is apparently still in the works, but we’re very excited to see what a new version might bring.
Monument Valley is currently available on iOS (Monument Valley / Monument Valley 2 / Bundle) and Android (Monument Valley / Monument Valley 2).
6. Animal Crossing
Your social media feed may be drowning in Animal Crossing content, and if you’re still on the fence of developing a deserted island into a bustling town, we get it. The game costs a decent amount ($59USD!) and a Nintendo Switch is definitely an investment if you don’t already have one. On top of that, both the gaming console and the physical copy of the game have been sold out everywhere, and overpriced resale options just aren’t worth it. However, not all is lost! If you didn’t already know, there is a condensed, mobile version of the Nintendo game!
In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, rather than a town, your character is based on a campsite, which you help to run. By crafting furniture, tools and other items, you can set the campsite up and decorate it to your heart’s content. Like the original game, you can go fishing, catch bugs and collect fruit. You can also interact with visiting animals, growing your friendships and earning rewards. As you craft and collect things, you can eventually collect them all!
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