Quick Look: AdVenture Capitalist

Just been playing this for the last half hour because of this recommendation. The presentation is fantastic.

I remember "playing" Progress Quest back in 2002, which had even less interaction that these clickers. I wonder how far back this concept really goes.

Also, I've been playing Trimps ever since Jeff mentioned it during Game of the Year discussions and I can't stop.

I can't tell what's more upsetting: These GAMES' or Jeff's 'LOVE' of them

"We have barred the consoles...but cannot hope to hold them...clicks in the deep...we cannot get out...the numbers only get higher in the darkness...we cannot get out...they are coming..."

Damn you all! Me too.

ie, set your system clock ahead to 2035 to get a new ship?

I love the short digression into cheating in this QL. People always say "cheating ruins the game for yourself". But then you bring up the interesting counter-examples, where ending the game faster is actually what the cheating player really wants deep down. Because the game itself -- whether tapping on numbers or shooting asteroids -- is basically a no-op. Cheating is just editing out a blank stretch of time.

Whenever Jeff says things about being busy, more money than time, etc. I just think of his clicking habits.

I would invest in a toilet bus.

I just cannot understand how anyone can get "hooked" on these. I played click heroes or whatever for about a week because I was led to believe there was some strategy in how you uprade but really there's just one optimal way and all the gameplay is about checking in to spend those points in a way you already decided ahead of time. After a few "resets" and realizing that was all there was to it I saw no reason to continue and all these games are the same.

how does any of that make it not a game?

I have no less than ten clicker games in my rotation.

I wouldn't say that I LOVE clicker games, there are just aren't anybetter games on phones.

And to people who say that they don't get the appeal. I agree to a point cause I also don't get the appeal on PC but on phones there just aren't any better games.

The appeal of these sorts of games never ceases to baffle me.

@devil240z: Because they don't meet the requirements/definition of what makes a...game. Also, its great you like them but saying there isn't anything better on phones is crazy.

So just so I'm clear on the concept:

Simulation game - (challenge + consequence + strategy) = Clicker game, correct?

What isn't a game?

Well you're wrong. And most phone games are just clicker games pretending to be real games. Also sure there are some pretty good games on phones but they are few and far between.

Life is a game.

judging from when the time was that did work and didn't. It looks like somebody is still using 32 bit time

All of the "making so much money right now!" immediately reminded me of Brian Regan's airport/first class passengers bit:

Don't do it. Get a real game that you can play and chat. If you want something FTP then the Magic the Gathering free to play game is ideal (if you like that) or of course there are a ton of arcade style games (Geometry Wars 3 for example), including some pretty great arcade classics like Twinbee. I mean AdVenture capitalist is free, so you can try it, but there's not enough there to play for 10-15 minutes at a time. There are a lot of good actual video games you can play in satisfying 10 minute sessions.

I will admit that I have played some idle games, and they are fine for something to mess with while waiting for a train, or while taking a quick coffee break at work, but part of that is that you want something that you can get into and out of in 3 minutes and that won't be too engaging or taxing. The idea of playing it on a console boggles my mind. If I'm going to sit down and turn on my PS4, as opposed to pulling my phone out of my pocket, I am going to be spending time playing a video game, and I want to play one that's more than a meaningless menu with numbers going up.

AdVenture Capitalist just proved far too simple for me. The numbers go up, but not in interesting ways. I found Realm Grinder and haven't looked back.

Also, if you like Spaceplan, check out a game called Crank. It's not nearly as pretty, but has some similar stuff going on. Last I played it didn't really have an 'end', but there was a place where things stopped advancing.

@devil240z: Well you're wrong. And most phone games are just clicker games pretending to be real games. Also sure there are some pretty good games on phones but they are few and far between.

Counterpoint: No

Alright, you go ahead a be that way.

As an incremental connoisseur, I could support a segment called "Breaking Jeff" where he just reviews or quick plays a ton of incremental games.

No, life is a highway! And I wanna click it all night long.

Not all cheaters want to finish a game faster. Some games like Clickers or No Man's Sky are a grind. The goal of those games is to get resources, once you cheat to give you those resources there's nothing left.

Some games are just have things that are inconvenient. Like encumbrance in a game. That's not fun for most people. Cheating eliminates that, but it doesn't mean the player wants the game to end faster.

I still have no idea what gets people hooked on these games (or, hell, to play them for more than 10 minutes), but I guess this seems like a well made one? I think?

Thank you, was weirdly hard to google

I had been hearing you guys talking about this game for days or a week or something, and it sounded fun.

Now that I started to watch the quick look, I'm bored as ever.

So you guys wouldn't do a Quick Look on something like Fran Bow, but you'll do one for this game?

so if I go to my calculator and enter in "1*1.1" and then press the "=" sign repeatedly, I will get the same satisfaction from playing one of these games.

the real no man's sky

I feel sick watching this.

@jubs: what the hell is fran bow?

im happy as hell that games like this exist. the more diverse the hobby gets the better. i may not care for it personally, but if it makes someone happy and isnt hurting anyone then fucking go for it.

that said this is pretty fucking dumb. thanks jeff! :D

It is very interesting to me listening to people talk about clicker games like this and how they find it so satisfying. These games do absolutely nothing for me.

I played this over the summer of 2015. Eventually I hated the game and myself enough that I stopped playing it. Yet I still have the app on my tablet because I don't have the willpower to banish it completely. I want to leave the option open of starting the game again and seeing all the hours and cash I have built up while not playing it. But I never do it for fear of being dragged back in.

I'm just gonna throw out here that my favorite one of these is Derivative Clicker.

https://gzgreg.github.io/DerivativeClicker/

No graphics. No flavor text. No cute. All numbers. More numbers. MORE NUMBERS.

If the other idle/clicker/incremental games metaphorically map to a range of drugs from caffeine to mainlining heroin, Derivative Clicker is the equivalent of jamming a syringe full of dopamine right into your brainstem.

I played this, Time Clickers, Trimp, and Clicker Heroes. CH is the only one I still have installed, but after being away from it I think I'm finally over the addiction.

...now to go play some Diablo 3!

I think it's hilarious how angry people get about other people liking incremental/idle/clicker games.

If you're the type of player who plays for efficiency, who puts hundreds to thousands of hours into a small pool of games, like a Diablo-clone, an MMO, a multiplayer game, etc., then chances are you might like idle/incremental games, because core efficiency and progress are what drives them. If you're the type of player who hates a 'grind' and doesn't like repeating the same content over and over looking for ways to become better and more efficient at it, then chances are you won't like incremental games, and that's totally fine, but it's completely baffling to me how much that second group of people feels the need to tell that first group of people how they're wrong for enjoying certain games or playing games a certain way.

This is your answer...

Seems like a shoe-in for Best 2015 Game of 2016.

@ripelivejam: It looks very much like a "Patrick Game". It also looks like it takes a lot of inspiration from Neverending Nightmares. I tried looking up some YouTube videos but the...'personalities' sort of drove me away.

This looks like hot garbage.

Why are we talking about this?

You guys did a 30 minute QL of this? Really?

I mean, don't get me wrong, my stupid brain is as soothed by numbering going up as the next guy's, but I'm not sure how you get that much content from this.

Is it still impossible to complete the last 2 achievements even with using cheat engine?

I played the shit out of this on Android. No joke; I beat the moon and Mars. It's not bad as a phone game. I just don't know why I would play this on PS4.

how come you never quick looks GTAV - oooooor something thats a game?

The moon song sounds suspiciously familiar...