I get asked this all the time by players. The incremental idle space is totally oversaturated, flooded with copy‑paste games. Why on earth would I jump in and make an incremental shooter?
Am I some kind of idiot for still building an incremental game in 2026?
Every time someone hits me with that question, I end up thinking long and hard about it.
I’m a solo indie dev squeezing in dev work after work and in random spare minutes. No big‑studio marketing push, no fancy publisher backing. Spending months polishing an entire incremental progression loop sure doesn’t look like a smart ROI call on paper.
So many incremental games out there are just mindless clicking and bloated stats. Players are burnt out, and media barely gives these games any spotlight. From a business and profit standpoint, it really feels like the numbers don’t add up.
But when I step back and think about it? Incremental gameplay itself isn’t dead. What’s dead are lazy reskins and brain‑numbing repetitive loops.
The real magic of incremental games is simple: cheap, constant feel‑good rewards.
Real life is stressful. People want something they can hop into for quick wins without overthinking. No convoluted story, no need to memorize crazy combo inputs. Boot it up for a few minutes and get that satisfying sense of progression. That pure stress‑relieving vibe will always have an audience.
That’s why I didn’t want to make yet another generic idle clicker. Instead I wrapped incremental mechanics inside something pretty niche: shoot‑’em‑up battles set right on your PC desktop.
Instead of just watching dry numbers go up, you get to blast swarms of bugs into oblivion. Earn resources from kills, unlock weird wild weapons and light up your skill tree. Big screen‑clearing explosions replace those boring plain number ticks. Underneath it’s still classic incremental progression, but the whole experience is cathartic and satisfying. That’s what keeps me grinding away on this project.
Don’t get me wrong, I know this is gonna be a rough road. Niche concept plus the incremental genre brings plenty of challenges. Being solo dev shows everywhere — number balancing, weapon feel, late‑game loop fun, there’s so much stuff I still need to polish.
This write‑up is partly just me journaling my dev journey, a little self‑indulgent rant. If you dig incremental games or love chill stress‑busting shooters, check out Desktop Bug Exterminator. The Playtest is live right now, though it only shows basic gameplay; tons more ideas are still in the works. A full Demo will drop for the next Steam Next Fest.
Please hop into the Playtest and throw me your honest thoughts. Tell me where you think incremental games could innovate. Even if you think I’m stubborn or straight‑up “dumb” for chasing this idea — I’ll take every bit of criticism and feedback to make the game better.
Also come join my DISCORD. Players and fellow indie devs are all welcome to chat and give feedback. Spitball new ideas for incremental design, or roast my choices, I’m all ears.
There’s no one‑right way to make indie games. Some devs chase whatever trend is hot, others stick to the fun they truly believe in. For me, if I can make a high‑octane little game that genuinely helps people unwind, then all this stubborn effort is totally worth it.