Desktop Heroes

As an idle game, there is no idle progression.
As an ARPG, there is no action.


This game is one of the most barebones cash-grab idlers. Sure, there are ten maps, four characters, and different mobs. It features mostly recycled sprites with the same mechanics, nothing fancy—just attack and defense. Even the loot is a random of 1-4 affixes from a 5-mod pool. I came here expecting a game either engaging or relaxing. Yet it feels like a minimal-effort attempt to find a niche in the idle/ARPG genre.

It's neither idle (needs you to intervene in high difficulty) nor manual (you can't afford the time to babysit the whole game).

Make. Up. Your. Mind.

Desktop Heroes is another one of those cute idle games that run along the bottom of your monitor claiming not to distract you from work, but of course, it totally does xD.
You can unlock four heroes and a variety of biomes/stages, each with the goal of grinding to level 100 with every hero to earn all the achievements.

Gameplay mostly revolves around checking your inventory now and then to sell junk and upgrade your hero. Each hero has unique abilities that speed up progress, though using them makes the game less of a pure idler. You’ll also need to heal your hero or they’ll die, but there’s a fairy companion who automatically feeds them health potions. She’s not as efficient as manual healing, but good enough - and since the full release, she works reliably. The developer also fixed many pre-release bugs quickly, which is great to see. If you find any new issues, just post them on the forums - they really do get addressed.

Otherwise, there’s not much mystery here: what you see on the store page is what you get. The quality is solid, grinding all achievements takes time, and it’s fun to watch your little hero fight through waves of enemies. There are also some neat features - you can make the game “virtual” so you can click through it, zoom in or out (so it takes up less of your screen, or you can admire it more), and adjust how much of the stage background is visible to show off either the art or your own desktop.

For the price, there’s really nothing to complain about. It’s simple, charming, and a great little time-waster to have running on the side.

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