Idle Evolution

Idle Evolution is one of the best idle clickers I've played at this point. It has a lot of meaningful complexity - and connects in with some fairly sound science. Yeah, some of it is a bit ishy; like I'm not sure I'd use this in the classroom, but as a chemist I can say a lot of this is fairly legit.

Essentially, this idle clicker revolves around the periodic table, and building compounds. There is a lot going on, and you can choose from three difficulties based on what you know going in about the periodic table (well, one of them unlocks after first completion). There are neat elements (no pun intended), including chemistry trivia, grabbing elements on the screen a la sun in PvZ, and the usual upgrading of stats.

Pros:
+The grind is really fun and there is a lot of complexity that keeps me entertained
+The music is top notch
+Lots of options, including unit changing, skipping of songs, and much more
+Upgrades feel beefy, which is rewarding

Cons:
-Some of the level goals can be tricky to figure out what they want
-Ehh, probably could be a bit overwhelming with all the menus right off the bat - but hey, thats the complexity we want, right?
-If the periodic table and minor chemistry scares you - you probaby won't enjoy this

I really like this idle clicker. It quite nicely ties in real-world science (chemistry and biology) into a fun game. Evolution is a grind - so it is fitting for this style of game.

This is a good example why there should be a difference between idle (incremental) and clicker games on Steam.

Those are the complete polar opposites of gameplay.

A clicker is a game where you are supposed to furiously click the same button thousands of times to progress or earn points.

In Idle Evolution clicking doesn't earn you anything. There is a hover mechanic, but you can alt-tab while hovering and it'll still count.

This is a game designed to be put away for some time (in fact, some missions straight up require you to do that), so you can go do something productive knowing that there will be something interesting waiting for you when you get tired.

The game sure has its flaws (grindy minigames, missions that lie to you, weird design for higher difficulty, appendix upgrade that does nothing AFAIK), but it's good enough as a productivity tool.

It's also useful to learn some real scientific numbers along the way. At least definitely more useful than learning numbers like "blue laser damage", "green dragon hp" and "bear butt drop rate".

First of all, do something more useful of your time than to play idle games.
That being said, for once, here's an idle game that isn't all THAT boring.
It's also an idle game that you can actually beat, and you can do so in 13 hours.
...and it's also a game that teaches you the atomic model (as wrong as it actually is) and the history of the Earth while you wait (although there's a fairly low bit of waiting compared to other idle games).
My only complaint is that it goes completely insane after the present day, but up until that point it's "scientifically accurate" (as far as the atomic model goes - look up quantum field theory for an actually accurate science).
...so I'm glad that I played this.