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Numbers getting bigger

Here’s a fascinating article on the math behind incremental games; Numbers Getting Bigger: The Design and Math of Incremental Games, by Alexander King.

Each line represents a different building, with cost on the y-axis and income rate on the x-axis (both logarithmic scales)

You know what it all boils down to? It’s this handy formula:

Price = Base Cost × Multiplier(#Owned)

It works particularly well, psychologically, if the multiplier is set between 1.07 and 1.15. Less than that and you progress too quickly to enjoy each new upgrade, and much larger than that and the game bogs down and feels like a tedious grind. Somewhere between 1.07 and 1.15 is the sweet spot, used by many, many idle/incremental games.

And me, too.

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What makes “Clicker Games” good?

Here’s a nice little YouTube video from RealityEscape on what makes a clicker game good:

Just in case the name didn’t give it away, Bones of the Idle has a strong idle/clicker component. When you’re gathering materials

There’s a few points raised that I want to briefly talk about in the context of Bones‘ design:

Ascension

I kind of have a system in mind for “ascension”, whereby players will be able to retire characters in exchange for a regular offline income. You get to start over with a new character, and every day you’ll receive some income and items based on all your retired character’s skills. Potentially these retirees will appear in the game as NPCs.

Autoclickers and scripting

I don’t care, in general. The client is written in Javascript and executed in the browser, so there’s only so much I can do to stop people using the developer console to script things. All the important stuff is server-side and validated there, but there’ll still be little shortcuts dedicated students of Javascript could uncover. I just have to minimise what scripters can get away with, and try not to sweat the small stuff.

Monetisation

Bones of the Idle is free to play, and there’s no adverts. It’s also not going to be nagging you to spend money. However, my time has value, and I’m not adverse to money. I set up a Ko-fi page here, where people can chip in with donations if they feel the game is worth it.

If I ever add anything resembling micro transactions — in general I have no issues with them, when done well — I’d have them be ethical, not lootboxes, and definitely not pay-to-win.