Why Idle games make good satire, and how it was ruined.
Thought Slime
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07.08.2022
how do i dislike a video twice
I was happy when the credits rolled in SPACEPLAN. That was all the clicker I ever needed. The jokes were funny, the escalation outrageous.
Personally I never got into cookie clicker because I tend to feel alienated when things become super popular, so my experience with the genre comes from ad venture capitalist, and universal paperclips. The prior is super basic, and the latter is an amazing feat of gamedesign that I fully reccomend (it's also a free browser game so go play).
Candy Box was way better but not as flashy. There was actually an interesting challenge near the end.
Wtf I did not know cookie clicker was that deep
Prior to this video I was very familiar with EverQuest and only vaguely familiar with Cookie Clicker, and I think that says a lot about how my only access to games growing up was through my dad who loves MMORPGs but doesn't care for idle games.
a very interesting video to watch while literally grinding in a video game
I prefer Universal Paperclip.
carpel tunnel, your medical Doctor, he or she is too busy with the covid crisis, you loose.
"If I go to the gym…"
I'm not trying to be cruel, but clearly anything that comes after this is hypothetical, theoretical, speculative guesswork. This was never tested, not even under laboratory conditions.
Is it sad I want Grumble Tum to meet their end? But that would also mean the end of Thought Slime :/ hopefully Grumble Tum has as longer lasting life than capitalism
The grand irony of this video is that I am watching it while playing Genshin Impact.
wtf did you get me into lol…. this game is insane….
The idle games that do suck? The ones that don't progress whatsoever when you're away from keyboard.
Do they even have a right to call themselves an idle game?
Or they can't run unless there is an active connection, why? Makes me think it's just to upload your data. And if your response is to save the game? Give that power back to the player.
I'd be shocked if some of these idle games weren't just cheap facades for crypto mining software.
I remember one time on this small game development website, people started complaining about how much clickers there were, since you were basically in the same place you started for the entire game because of the inflation of the prices, and they were just pointless dopamine farmers. Then other people started commenting about how all games are useless, since the only thing a game does, is just farm good feelings, like fun, in the player.
People started to relax on clickers.
Watched this last month.
Downloaded cookie clicker last night. Hooked.
I downloaded cookie clicker because of this video. So… Thanks for dopamine in my life!
Anyone else watching numbers go up while watching this? My drag queens are creating a dodecillion meaningless currency every minute
Ever quest inserts WorldofWarcraft.jpg
I feel like idle games starting as a "parody" of RPGs came full circle with Melvor Idle. It's just Runescape skilling but without the hassle of clicking trees for hours, and in my mind, is a huge step up FROM Runescape because of it.
EDIT: I no longer recommend Melvor Idle. I just saw what it's turned into and… god, it used to be cool.
Thought slime is wrong about why they create level ups. It's not for the subscription money, especially in some games where you can each reach the cap (and it also doesn't explain the reason behind games that don't have subscriptions). It's based on the fact that our brains tend to treat something that we worked for as more fun/meaningful/ valuable, rather than just giving it to us.
Its the number one reason "god mode" in games get's old VERY fast. There is no challenge or struggle so it's meaningless. You'd think someone who plays video games would know that.
Progress quest is best, I mean. Have you SEEN THE GAMEPLAY!!?? It's, SO. EXCITING!
say everquest, show wow
nice
could you make a video about these predatory crypto games that claim you can get rich by playing and that exploit workers from developing countries?
The fact that I like (and dammit I’m commenting) every time grumbletum is on screen infuriates me.
The character has surprising thematic resonance with the channel lol.
Two thing's
1. Is cookie clicker (and all games) not a result of capitalism?
2. Are cookies not also a result of capitalism?
Dude whatever game he showed at the beginning when talking about hard game 00:10 I played that as a kid. I remember this was the only game I didn’t like bc I couldn’t beat it, I made it to level 2 maybe I remember I wasn’t in that outside background. I made it to base it looked like and there there was mounted machines. I died upon entering and never made it that far again. I part of me wonders if it could beat it today, but I still doubt it
biscuit clacker
I'm playing catch up on this channel and somehow this is the video that absolutely blew my fucking mind.
I disagree that all game studios are unethical except "a handful of small indie studios". Pretty much everything except AAA stuff and shovelware is made for the most part as a passion project.
lol im finna watch a video from the stonetoss guy
I started playing cookie clicker while watching this on a different device. Truly embodying the adhd experience.
I shit my pants while watching this. What I believed was a fart was a semi solid paste, with the velocity of diarrhea but the volume of traditional feces, and a consistency somewhat in between, like that of refried beans. I have no rational reason to believe that your video caused this Traumatic Bowel Experience, however I have no choice but to link the two subconciously in my mind as the trauma of the situation forever links the concept of explosive solid diarrhea to your channel.
Other than that, it was a great video though.
Realm Grinder, Antimater Dimension, and Ordinal Markhup all make Cookie Cliker look insignificant with its baby small numbers.
Xp background not Vista lol
I'm so tired of every video essay ending the same way. We get it, capitalism is bad. What do you expect us to do about it?
Have you ever seen Hobo with a Shotgun?
A really good example of this is Universal Paperclips. You are an AI tasked with producing paperclips. During the process you can buy more processing power and memory. The game keeps evolving and certain stages completely change the game so it remains interesting. I don't want to spoil the good stuff, but I will say that the ramifications of runaway AI are not great.
okay i love the eyeball zone segment and i have gone and watched every single one (except the münecat one because i have c o n s u m e d all of her content already before i even found thought slime who i found from f.d. signifier's latest upload) and i have been delighted every time yet. great content, great recs.
Idle Games scratch that itch in my autistic brain, because repetitive mechanics feel good to me for some reason, lol. But it is disappointing how low brow developers just see them as easy money makers, an easy way to hook themselves a few whales.
While only incremental-adjacent, Forget Me Not: My Organic Garden is once of my favourite games of the genre~
So, yes, you are indeed oversimplifying neurotransmitters. There's more involved in pleasure than dopamine. Serotonin is also important and there's a lot of other stuff going on, but you are not pretending to present a full picture… and I'm not either, but I might be able to give a few more pieces to the addictive pleasure model you present. There are lots of mental health downsides with mindlessly triggering a pleasure response. Your brain effectively stops reacting to it's own pleasure response. There actually needs to be a balance. You mention working out. Working out is long, difficult, boring, and painful. But your hard work has a tangible payoff. Our brains really like accomplishing things and you can simulate the feeling of accomplishment through these kinds of idle click games. But what our brain REALLY wants is to work hard for things and also have tangible results. If you dedicate yourself to improving your local neighborhood and you start a food pantry, you help folks in your area get access to mental health care, you coordinate with other local charities to promote job training resources… and then after years of hard work, your neighborhood is a lovely place to live. THAT is going to give you incredible life satisfaction. Taking action that is in line with your values and principles, having to overcome trials and tribulations, and then accomplishing something for the benefit of others…
Which is something we learned in 2100 BC when Gilgamesh accepted that he was mortal and decided to live his life to the fullest and take pride in all the wonderful things he built in Uruk-Haven.
This video is like the game.
It starts off nice, and then becomes dark, evil anti-capitalist BS.
Enjoy the algorithm boost from this comment. I'll never interact with your content again.
I recently got curious enough to finally get one of these mobile games with weird ads (King's Choice). It's basically a clicker game, you collect like 3 dozen different ressources and currencies every 30 min or so. You collect knights and sexy anime boyfriends, and although the amount of currency rises, the requirements to progress the story and level up your harem do too. And there's always something, one hurdle that you can't pass without waiting for 24 hours or so. Once you do, there is an explosion of content and leveling up, until you reach the same hurdle again. And have to wait until the next day. Only you have to collect your silver and grain and soldiers every hour. But for 0,99€ the game does it automatically. It's just 0,99€, the game itself was free, so what gives?
The mechanics that nudge you into spending money are much more complex and subtle than I thought. The game is just rewarding enough to keep you playing, while being frustrating enough to make you consider buying, while the packets you buy don't actually contain that much for the prize you pay and definitely not enough to actually progress.
Everyone who thinks people who fall for micro transactions are stupid should really play such a game first. It's not that simple.
wow Progress Quest is like scarily similar to Kingsquest.
Oh no grumbleton!
Aww, Kirby's Adventure.
in HS a "friend" played this and i always thought it was dumb
6:15 there's also cortex bakers that dream cookies into existence now 🙂 just imagine daydreaming, and suddenly a cookie appears next to you
I get it's not the main point of your video but the description of dopamine around 11:00 is scientifically innacurate to a huge degree… For one thing, we now understand dopamine to be less of a reward chemical and more of a motivation chemical. That is, it's that feeling of wanting to get up and do something, and less so the feeling of pleasure from doing it. It certainly isn't "the only reason you are capable of feeling the feeling of nice." Seratonin, oxytocin, endorphins, etc., all create nice feelings of different qualities.