Updated October 12, 2026 · 24 games

Idle Games With Offline Progress

The whole fantasy of an idle game is closing it and coming back richer. Every game on this list keeps working while it is closed, so the "idle" part actually means something.

1

Antimatter Dimensions 9.4

web, steam, android, ios · free · hybrid · high complexity

The genre's reference implementation. Deep, free, no pay-to-win, and endlessly layered prestige. The one everyone else gets measured against.
Full review →
2

Idle Obelisk Miner 9.2

android, ios, web · free · hybrid · high complexity

A genuinely deep mining incremental that does the unthinkable in mobile idle: zero ads, not even optional ones. Prestige artifacts, then whole new systems (stargazing, archaeology, fishing) keep unfolding for hundreds of hours.
Full review →
3

Melvor Idle 9

web, steam, android, ios · freemium · pure-idle · medium complexity

Old-School RuneScape distilled into a spreadsheet you love. Enormous content, respectful monetization (base game is cheap, expansions are optional), and the rare idle game with genuine build variety.
Full review →
4

S

Synergism 8.9

web, steam · free · hybrid · brutal complexity

A monument to layered progression: reset systems stacked on reset systems, each unlocking the next, for literally thousands of hours. Free, community-beloved, and now on Steam as of 2026.
Full review →
5

Cookie Clicker 8.8

web, steam, android, ios · free · hybrid · medium complexity

The genre's ground zero. It invented the vocabulary everyone else borrows, and somehow the jokes still land a decade later. The Steam version with achievements is the definitive way to play.
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6

KG

Kittens Game 8.8

web, steam · free · hybrid · medium complexity

The thinking person's idle game: a spreadsheet-y cat-village sim with a tech tree so deep it feels like a civilization builder wearing an incremental's clothes. Twelve years old and still getting updates.
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7

AD

A Dark Room 8.7

web, android, ios · free · hybrid · low complexity

The minimalist classic that proved a text incremental could be art. It starts with one button — 'stoke the fire' — and quietly becomes something you won't see coming. Topped App Store charts in 70 countries for a reason.
Full review →
8

Unnamed Space Idle 8.7

steam, linux · free · hybrid · high complexity

The community's Best F2P pick for good reason: a slow-burn, unfolding sci-fi idler where every few hours a whole new system quietly opens up and re-contextualizes what you thought the game was. Free, no ads, no store, still in active Early Access.
Full review →
9

NGU Idle 8.6

web, steam · free · pure-idle · high complexity

Aggressively unserious on the surface, genuinely enormous underneath. Free on Steam, no P2W, and a dozen systems that slowly reveal how they feed each other. A cult favorite for good reason.
Full review →
10

Egg, Inc. 8.5

ios, android · freemium · pay-to-win · pure-idle · low complexity

The ur-example of mobile idle done charmingly: hatch increasingly absurd eggs, ship them, prestige for Soul Eggs, repeat. Ten years of updates (Dark Mode landed June 2026) and 1.4M+ reviews — a genuine genre landmark.
Full review →
11

Exponential Idle 8.5

android, ios · free · hybrid · high complexity

An idle game that's secretly a love letter to mathematics: progress by pushing equations, then unlock custom 'theories' with their own mechanics. Free, ad-free, and quietly one of the smartest games on mobile.
Full review →
12

Dwarf Eats Mountain 8.4

steam, linux · paid · hybrid · medium complexity

The 2026 breakout, and it earns the hype. A whimsical pixel-art mining incremental where the whole screen is dwarves chucking pickaxes at a mountain while your DPM chart climbs — tight upgrade pacing that never stalls, at $9.99 with no dark patterns. Very Positive on Steam and every idle creator ran a series on it.
Full review →
13

Idle Slayer 8.4

steam, android, ios · free · hybrid · medium complexity

A pixel-art auto-runner welded to a soul-collecting idle engine, with an Ascension tree deep enough to reward planning. Cross-platform cloud saves, 600+ achievements, and a solo dev who's still shipping major updates six years on.
Full review →
14

Realm Grinder 8.4

web, steam, android, ios · free · pure-idle · brutal complexity

The faction-swapping grandaddy of strategic idlers: align with elves, demons, fairies and more, each rewriting how you play. Three stacked prestige layers and a decade of depth keep it a genre benchmark.
Full review →
15

Theresmore 8.4

browser, android, ios · free · active-heavy · high complexity

The rare incremental that's genuinely a 4X in disguise — a tech tree, real armies, diplomacy and conquest layered onto number-go-up. A perennial r/incremental_games favorite, entirely free, no ads, and the new 1.2 idle queue system finally softens the click-heavy early game.
Full review →
16

Leaf Blower Revolution 8.3

steam, android, ios · free · pure-idle · medium complexity

Exactly as silly as it sounds and far deeper than it has any right to be. What starts as blowing leaves becomes a sprawling automation game with fishing, gems, and a hundred systems. Free, no P2W, still updated.
Full review →
17

Revolution Idle 8.3

steam, android, ios · free · pure-idle · low complexity

Full-released in May 2025, this is the friendly on-ramp to number-go-up: fill a circle, multiply, prestige, repeat, with new layers (Promotion, Infinity, Unity) unfolding as you go. Low friction, 670+ achievements, still actively expanding.
Full review →
18

Legends of IdleOn 8.2

web, steam, android, ios · free · pure-idle · high complexity

The idle MMO that actually works: run a whole roster of characters across six worlds and 38 classes, each grinding a different system while you're away. Fully released Nov 2025 after years of steady growth.
Full review →
19

Idle Planet Miner 8

ios, android · ad-supported · pay-to-win · pure-idle · high complexity

A surprisingly strategic space-mining idle where the real game is selling galaxies, not building them. Deep upgrade scaling, live tournaments, and a mothership economy that rewards genuine optimization — as long as you can look past the ads.
Full review →
20

Cell to Singularity 7.8

web, steam, android, ios · freemium · pure-idle · low complexity

Evolution as an idle game, and a gorgeous one — tap your way from primordial cell through dinosaurs to AI and the stars. The late-2025 'Reality Reboot' redesigned prestige and it's more approachable than ever.
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21

Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms 7.6

web, steam, android, ios · freemium · pay-to-win · pure-idle · medium complexity

Official D&D wrapped around a formation-puzzle idler: slot hundreds of licensed champions into a line and optimize their buff chains. Deep and generous with free content — but the shop leans hard on paid champion packs.
Full review →
22

Idle Skilling 7.5

steam, android, ios · free · pure-idle · medium complexity

The prolific LavaFlame2's earlier idler: 21 skills plus pet combat and spelunking sub-games, all ticking away at once. Free, sprawling, and a lighter on-ramp to the same dev's bigger IdleOn.
Full review →
23

Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising 7.4

steam, windows, mac · paid · hybrid · high complexity

A $9.99 one-and-done ARPG-idle that wears its Path of Exile and Diablo loot influences proudly — gear crafting, Runewords, towers, realms, and seasons all stacked onto an auto-battling idle loop. Mostly Positive reviews and no store cash-grab make it an easy pick if you want loot depth without the live-service hooks.
Full review →
24

TBH: Task Bar Hero 6.3

steam, windows · freemium · pure-idle · low complexity

2026's biggest idle breakout by raw player count — a genuinely charming taskbar-sized RPG that runs out of the corner of your eye while you work. But the Mixed reviews are earned: some classes sit behind payment and the data-collection disclosure is murkier than it should be. Great idea, watch the catch.
Full review →