Gaming & Internet Culture · gaming genre
What Does 'Incremental' Mean in Gaming?
Mainstream
See it in action
Video: WHAT are INCREMENTAL GAMES?, embedded from its original platform.
What it means
In gaming, 'incremental' is a genre label, not just a vibe. An incremental game is built on one core loop: there's at least one currency or number that increases at a set rate with minimal effort, and you spend that currency to increase the rate at which it increases.
You click a button, the number goes up; you click again, it goes up again; eventually you unlock something that makes the number go up by itself, and then you repeat that process forever. That loop of accumulation, reinvestment, and acceleration is what separates a true incremental from any game that merely has a score or a skill tree.
Having upgrades doesn't make a game incremental, and a reset mechanic alone doesn't either, otherwise every roguelite would qualify. The genre is defined by the snowball itself: numbers getting bigger is the entire point.
You'll also hear these called 'idle games' or 'clicker games,' and the terms overlap heavily but aren't identical. 'Clicker' emphasizes the active tapping phase, while 'idle' emphasizes that the number keeps climbing without your direct involvement or even your presence, you can leave the game running and come back to a pile of currency.
Some players specifically hunt for incrementals that aren't idle, wanting active play the whole way through, which shows how the community treats these as distinct dials within one genre. Well-known examples span casual commercial hits like Clicker Heroes and AdVenture Capitalist to more experimental or hardcore entries like Candy Box, Cookie Clicker, and Sandcastle Builder.
Because the genre is a social construct with fuzzy edges, fans and developers argue about what counts, and some have proposed judging games by their 'incrementalness' against a canon of defining titles rather than by any single rigid rule.
Outside of gaming, 'incremental' keeps its plain dictionary sense: happening in small steps or gradual amounts rather than all at once.
You'll see it in everyday complaints, like a flight being 'incrementally delayed' an hour or two at a time so you can never just leave the airport, and in business or engineering talk about adding 'incremental production capacity.' The two senses share DNA: the gaming genre is literally named after that step-by-step accumulation, just turned into the whole game.
In chat and on Reddit, though, when someone says 'incremental' with no other context, they almost always mean the genre, as in 'any good incremental games?' or 'numbers go up make me happy.' [1][2][3][4]
The receipt
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The receipts
Documented, dated uses of “incremental” — each quote is verbatim from the linked source.
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Why it's everywhere
Incremental games hold a permanent, dedicated niche because they tap straight into the psychology of reward. Writers have long connected the genre to the 'Skinner Box', B. F. Skinner's operant conditioning experiments showing that subjects repeat an action even when rewards come at long or random intervals.
The loop of click, earn, upgrade, and accelerate delivers constant tangible progress with minimal effort, which makes the games weirdly addictive despite seeming to defy conventional ideas of good design: minimal player agency, long stretches of inactivity, and yet a substantial, loyal player base.
The genre is alive and self-critical right now. Active communities run weekly 'what are you playing' recommendation threads, players trade requests for specific sub-flavors (incrementals that aren't idle, incrementals with magic or superpowers), and there's visible discourse about quality, like complaints about 'guide-slop' incremental games that eventually require an exact build order or wiki to progress.
That mix of enthusiasm and genre-savvy critique is the sign of a mature, mainstream label: everyone in those spaces already knows what 'incremental' means, and the conversation has moved on to which ones are actually good.
How it gets used
Neutral, standard genre term, safe in any gaming conversation; nobody will blink. Just don't confuse it with 'idle game' in front of genre purists.
- “I need a new incremental to run in the background while I work, numbers go up make me happy.”Reddit game recommendation thread
- “This incremental was fun for a week but now it basically requires a guide and an exact build order to progress.”complaining about 'guide-slop' in r/incremental_games
- “It's not really an idle game, it's more of an active incremental, you're clicking and making decisions the whole time.”distinguishing sub-genres in a Discord rec chat
- “My flight has been incrementally delayed for 14 hours, they push it back two hours at a time so I can never just leave.”everyday non-gaming usage, meaning 'in small steps'
- “Cookie Clicker is the gateway incremental, one day you're clicking a cookie, the next day you own a cookie galaxy.”recommending a starter game to a friend
Frequently asked
What is an incremental game?
A game built on one loop: a currency or number increases at a set rate with minimal effort, and you spend it on upgrades that make it increase faster. Accumulate, reinvest, accelerate, forever.
Are incremental games and idle games the same thing?
They overlap a lot but aren't identical. 'Idle' stresses that the number grows while you're away; 'incremental' stresses the growth-and-reinvestment loop itself. Some incrementals are fully active with no idle component.
What are some well-known incremental games?
Sources cite Clicker Heroes and AdVenture Capitalist as successful casual/commercial examples, and Candy Box, Cookie Clicker, and Sandcastle Builder as more experimental or hardcore ones.
Why are incremental games so addictive?
They're often compared to a Skinner Box: periodic rewards for simple actions keep players repeating the loop, and the constant visible growth of numbers delivers a steady sense of progress.
What does 'incremental' mean outside of gaming?
It means happening in small, gradual steps, like a flight being 'incrementally delayed' an hour at a time, or adding 'incremental production capacity' in business talk.
Related terms (4)
More gaming (6)
Sources (4)
- paperpilot.dev — Guide to Incrementals/Defining the Genre | The Paper Pilot
- paperpilot.dev — Guide to Incrementals | The Paper Pilot
- code.tutsplus.com — Numbers Getting Bigger: What Are Incremental Games, and Why Are They Fun? | Envato Tuts+
- Live social usage (X/Reddit, harvested by our own runner) — Real posts using "incremental"