10 incremental games to take up all your spare time

During my reintroduction to gaming, I’ve realized that I might be a fan of incrementals. This is something of a revelation to me, because I never used to enjoy them at all. Apparently, things change, though, because here I am with a Steam library full of games that fit into the genre. 

Incremental games, for those who may be unaware, are those that start slow and allow you to improve your skills, making things easier as you surge ahead. You earn currencies, purchase upgrades, and have an easier time every time you go back for another round. These games are addictive, not to mention an absolute time-sink, but there’s something about them that I just love. 

With that in mind, here are 10 of the most bizarre and incredible incremental games that I’ve given up hours of my life to. Narrowing this down to just 10 was hard.

Scritchy Scratchy

Scritchy Scratchy was one of the first incremental games that completely sucked me in and may be the starting point for my current obsession with the genre. If you’ve ever thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to win big on a scratch-off, " then this little incremental gem will definitely have you hooked. 

Of all the games on this list, Scritchy Scratchy might be the one that is the most inexplicably addictive. I mean, all you’re doing is scratching off tickets to try and earn money for those all too important upgrades to your luck (can I get this in real life?), scratch size, and coin type. Add in the different gadgets you can buy to help, and the prestige points you can spend after each run… And yeah, you’ll end up coming back for more. 

Scritchy Scratchy is out now on Steam, and also available to play on Android devices through the Play Store. You know, in case you want to take your addiction with you wherever you go.

Snap the Cat

While many other incrementals impose a time limit of some sort during every run, Snap the Cat developer Koro Games takes a different approach to the incremental genre. Instead of going as fast as you can, the aim of the game in Snap the Cat is patience. Honestly, a refreshing change of pace.

The entire aim in this gem of a game is to take photos of various cats in their various hats, trying to gain likes and follows on social media through the photos you take. Photos with more cats (or more hats) get more likes, and you gradually unlock new ones as you play that are worth more likes or follows. No pressure, no need to rush, and endless amusement from cat + hat variations. 

The demo for Snap the Cat is currently available as part of June’s Steam Next Fest, and the full game is set to release in August 2026.

Sludgineers

Sludgineers is particularly enjoyable to me because it combines my newly discovered love for incrementals with my well-established love for cleaning games. There’s something incredibly therapeutic about cleaning up a virtual mess, and Sludgineers offers you ample opportunity to decontaminate, mine, and refine to save gorgeous pixel locations from the sludge.

With progression that feels perfectly balanced and quests to complete, you’ll quickly get sucked into the gameplay loop, obsessing over the tiny details of each map location. Then, with the gunk and the ore that you end up hoarding, you can refine them into new currencies that allow you to unlock more improvements for the next run.

Sludgineers has a demo available now as part of Steam Next Fest, and the full game is earmarked for release on August 26, 2026.

Piñata Go Boom

Imagine you find yourself suddenly thrust into a job as a piñata whacker, in a place that holds mysterious secrets and more than a little bit of creepiness. That’s the premise of Piñata Go Boom, and the slow start does not give any hints as to how utterly insane this game gets during its later stages. 

The upgrades go hard in Piñata Go Boom. You increase your speed, your strength, and how long you have to complete each run, all of which are pretty expected in the genre. However, you also unlock explosions and uncover the bizarre story of your new employer as you progress through the differently themed levels.

Piñata Go Boom was developed by Tissue Inu and released on Steam in September 2025. I highly recommend you give this one a go if you enjoy incrementals, and I can guarantee you will have a fun time. 

A Game About Feeding A Black Hole

I became obsessed with this game back when I downloaded the demo as part of the last Next Fest, and I bought it on release day. The only thing I remember about that day is moving my mouse in circles around the screen, desperately trying to suck up asteroids before the time ran out. 

From humble, slow-clicking beginnings, AGAFABH (still a mouthful, but better) progresses into a wild ride of rainbows, lasers, and supporting spaceships. Once you’ve completed the main game, you unlock further mini-games and time trials that will further test you. It’s nice to see an incremental that doesn’t end with the main game. 

A Game About Feeding a Black Hole was released in full in December 2026, and it’s become my go-to if I’ve got a few minutes to spare and want my incremental fix.

Cupiclaw

I’ve written about Cupiclaw a few times, so it’s no secret that I love this adorable little claw grabber game. The colors, the music, the story of perseverance and (admittedly twisted) love… It’s just so special and well worth a place on this list. 

Cupiclaw, in my eyes, is more of a “long-term” incremental. Rather than quick runs that last less than a minute, you have to go through 8 floors each run, with multiple attempts on each floor. Each run can last half an hour or more, so Cupiclaw feels less incremental, even though it’s still a perfect example of the genre. 

Released in full in March 2026, Cupiclaw is available through Steam right now. Even though I’ve completed it and unlocked everything there is to unlock, I still find myself going back for more simply because I can, and that’s a sign of something special. 

Trashy Cashy

Another discovery of June’s Next Fest, Trashy Cashy is a game about ripping open trash bags (and boxes) and selling the disgusting contents for profit. If only it were that easy to start up a reselling business in real life. 

From apple cores and cigarette butts to takeout containers and balls of wool, everything in Trashy Cashy is worth money to the right people. There are even some weirdos who will pay you hundreds or thousands to get their hands on an item, although you’ll need to work up to that within the upgrade tree. You can also upgrade your cut length, your tool, and your luck when it comes to finding pure cash in the trash. 

The demo for Trashy Cashy lets you work your way through three different types of trash containers, and I can’t wait to see what else becomes available when the full game was released on June 24, 2026..

Tingus Goose

Okay, so all of the games on this list could be considered bizarre in one way or another, but Tingus Goose takes the metaphorical cake when it comes to pure oddity. I mean, this is a goose that pukes up babies who earn you money as they make their way towards the ground, racking up the cash by encountering various other types of geese attached to the original goose. I’m not sure what else I can say except that this is a trip. 

But despite being undeniably weird, Tingus Goose is also incredibly fun to play and addictive, because you always want to know what other insane goose you can add to your goose tree. It’s hard to explain, but fun to play, and you’ll just have to trust me on this one and try it yourself. 

On the plus side, the full game was released in December 2025, so you can go and play it right now if you like things on the weirder side. 

Leaf It Alone

Like Sludgineers, Leaf It Alone scratches both the incremental and cleaning sim itches, but it’s probably the least incremental game on this list. The upgrades you can buy are fairly limited, with other upgrades only unlocking once you finish certain sections of the garden you’ve been tasked with cleaning. 

But, at the end of the day, this is still an incremental game at its heart, and it’s an incredibly relaxing one to play. During your first playthrough, you’ll be content to simply pick up the leaves and make the garden great again. It’s only after you’ve completed the task once that you realize there is a leaderboard, filled with people who have somehow managed to complete the entire game in fascinatingly short times. 

Leaf It Alone is available to play right now, released in October 2025, and is well worth a play if you’ve got some time and an urge to clean things up. 

Carpet Cleaning Simulator

When you first dive into the demo for Carpet Cleaning Simulator, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s a basic cleaning sim. You clean carpets, sell the bubbles for money, buy upgrades and new tools, then clean another carpet. That alone makes it incremental to a degree, but what earns it a place on this list is the surprise incrementalism (is that a word?). 

You see, once you’ve cleaned approximately three carpets, the world comes to a fiery end when a meteor crashes down outside your garage door. Yes, I know, that’s unexpected to say the least. Then, a message pops up saying that time will rewind, and you get to spend your carpet points on hefty upgrades that apply to each successive run. 

There’s something special about Carpet Cleaning Simulator, and you can play the demo now via Steam.