Trimps

Trimps is one of the first idle incremental games I've played, 7 years ago. It's also the last one I still regularly play. I don't know what it is about boxes changing colors that's so captivating - perhaps it is activating the same neurons that used to enjoy staring at the old Win 95 Defrag Tool for hours on end? And now, after all this time, it is so much more than that. The game now has years of content. At the beginning you will be actively playing, and learning all the mechanics. Over time, you will automate most of the actions, and the game will start challenging your management skills, constantly giving you new problems to solve. Whenever you think "surely it'll be done soon?", there will be something new. For fans of idle/incremental games, I wholeheartedly recommend this game.

YO FOR REAL TRIMPS ON STEAM lmao so I've had this trimps.txt file saved on my PC for literally almost 6 years. The backup has literally followed me between 4 separate PC builds. I used to play Trimps in a browser at work, but when I left that place I exported my game and it's been locked away all this time. I don't even know why I kept it, there have been so many times I've come across it cleaning my computer up and thought "why don't I delete this, it's not like I'm ever gonna play Trimps again". But now... "Welcome Back, it's been 2106 Days and 5 Hours since you last played"! LOOLLLLL just 2.20e35 trimps casually sitting there for 6 years awaiting the return of their overlord. IM BACK BAYBEE! LESSGOOO TRIMPS!

I've been playing this for something like 4 years now (it's been web-only until just now being released with a steam client) and I have to recommend it. The dev is very attentive and active and updates the game regularly, both with content and with bug fixes and QoL improvements. It's the only idle game that's kept my interest, and I have tried lots. It's not a "clicker" like some other games, it's more of a management thing where (depending on what type of run you're doing) it's only really worth it to check on the game every few hours. There are also various things you can do which make the most of longer (e.g. overnight) runs. There are several "games within games" that get unlocked as you go along to keep you busy/interested. The pacing and progression are very satisfying. Mechanics you had to worry about at the start get automated and new mechanics brought in (though the levels of automation are varied - some things you never have to worry about again, others have automation settings you have to tweak now and then). The game is free to play. There's only one purchasable currency: Bones. You do not need to purchase any bones at all to play the game. To be honest even if you do purchase bones they won't get you very far ahead, they're mostly just a way of supporting the dev. This is definitely not one of those EA-style games that aggressively pushes you to buy loads of gems/coins whatever in a million microtransactions. You'll earn bones as you go along anyway and there's no content gated behind money. There are no nagboxes or prompts etc. either. The game also gets updated scaling mechanics as more content is released. It's taken me ~4 years to get where I am in the game, which is pretty much "end game" or end of currently existing content, but I believe with dedicated play, a new player could get to where I am now in ~6 months. There's a very active reddit and discord community, plus wiki, guides etc. which can all be found via the trimps subreddit. I recommend the discord as the best place to get help with the game and just chat.