The Surprising Popularity of Clicker and Incremental Games in Indonesia
If you’ve been browsing trending game stores lately — particularly for Android-based experiences — then there’s a decent chance you’ve stumbled into something strange: idle games. You know, those oddly addictive apps where your only “play" is waiting while resources pile up? These titles aren’t just simple distractions — they are now **dominant entries on the mobile gaming charts**, especially within Indonesia's fast-growing tech ecosystem.
Why Indonesian Players Are Obsessed With Incremental Titles
- No Wi-Fi required: Most players in remote provinces can run an incremental title without needing a full-time internet plan.
- Low storage usage: Games often take less than 50MB. In areas where people still use budget handsets from 3–4 years ago, this matters big time.
- Coin collecting loops create dopamine hits, mimicking how traditional gamblers feel at casinos or arcades (just with more emojis).
- A surprising number also include lightweight narratives these days — yes, some even have a "story mode," as we'll touch upon below.
| Game Type | Adopted Users (IDN Only) | % Of Google Play Downloads Q1–Q2 2024 | Average DAU |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puzzle RPGs | 3,2M Users* | ≈ 18% | 56k sessions/day |
| **Incrementals / Idles | 8.6 million | ~44.2% | 189 thousand users/day |
Story Mode Meets Passive Design?
You’d think that adding storylines would require active play but devs found smart tricks to keep you busy reading dialogues while watching money numbers rise automatically.
- Anthem Interactive released a soft-sim called
Anthurium Delta Force Beta 2030. Even though the actual gameplay involves upgrading turrets in a static tower defense interface... - ...it includes a post-war sci-fi story told via mission briefings! That tiny bit of narrative immersion turned a standard “grind game" into a mini-interactive novel that fans actually discussed online in local FB groups for over a month!
- Users felt emotionally attached despite barely touching screen beyond level selection & upgrade tabs
Hints For Developers Wanting A Share Of The Indonesia Game Sector Growth
BONUS TIPS BULLET LIST:- Optimize app startup speed under weak 3G networks; avoid loading large asset packs during first session unless forced by publisher guidelines
- Duplicate content warnings must be manually addressed by QA if using AI-generated dialogue lines. Local players tend to pick-up repetition much quicker than most dev studios expect
- Servers should be located within ASEAN zones; high pings ruin even the best designed background grinding loops if saves fail after 2+ mins
Key Final Thoughts
Main Takeaways From The Shift Towards Passive-First Mobile Experiences:“We just wanna log-in once every few hours, see all our numbers grew by themselves, read one quick cutscene, maybe get surprised occasionally by new characters showing-up mid-cycle — that’s not ‘laziness’. That is the future of low-stimulation design."
- Even simple resource generators benefit when layered beneath story segments;
- User fatigue from attention-grabs doesn't apply to games requiring zero live focus;
- Influencers who share their personal growth logs via Discord and Reddit-style platforms have started influencing indie incremental dev choices far more aggressively than before.
- Expect more "Idle RPG hybrids" pushing boundaries of both sub-genres starting mid-2025 onward;