The idle genre, also known as a clicker or incremental games, sometimes draws a bad rep from other gamers that think it’s not worth your time, but there are a good number of idle games on Switch that I really enjoy.
There are moments when idle games excel in different ways by transforming into something incredible. Some of the games on this list take a different approach to gameplay mechanics and premises that might surprise you.
This list contains the 13 best idle games on Switch that you will find amusing and well worth discovering.
These games are the perfect match if you want to pass time or get stuck in to a story. These games are amusing, charming and relaxing all at once.
A Dark Room
To start the list is this straightforward but unique idle game called A Dark Room. It is a point-and-click title that combines a simple aesthetic with more realistic gameplay.
The game can also be depicted as a simulation in which it is your job to handle its expanding community each time. However, the unique part of this game is its fantastic direction of progression, which prevents players in a confused state of mind.
Dark Room’s main gameplay loop lets you light fire frequently to attract strangers. Doing this will allow you to meet new people with significant jobs that can help your growing village.
Once you’ve gathered enough materials and resources, you can build equipment and items such as bone spears and leather armor that are important in explorations. Explorations might complicate you initially, but eventually, you will get used to them.
Overall, A Dark Room is a game that surprises players once you dig deeper into it. As a result, it is considered one of the best idle games on Switch.
RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures
RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures is a building game that will take you on the management side of creating an amusement park business.
The game will start you as a small, profiting business but gradually become a fruitful business as you play over time. The game’s primary focus is maintaining your resources by testing your management skills.
In addition, Tycoon Adventures can be interpreted as a simulator game as you can experience how to run a business. But, of course, its main gameplay loop is to earn money to expand your resources even further.
Once your ventures are off the charts, they will become more popular among guests, making you earn more money in the game. However, neglecting the guest’s basic needs can lead to losing profit.
So, to prevent that, you can install food stalls, bathrooms, and facilities that are crucial to your crowd management. Also, you can hire staff to do smaller tasks around the game.
That said, Tycoon Adventures is an excellent game for players inclined in the world of businesses or simply having fun.
Gym Hero – Idle Fitness Tycoon
Another one added to this list is this ridiculous yet amusing Gym Hero – Idle Fitness Tycoon. Gym Hero is an idle game with the primary goal to keep your character fit.
Its approach to gameplay is far more straightforward than any other game with the same element, making it one of the best Switch idle games. You begin as a plus-sized man or woman, depending on your gender, to become fit just by tapping the screen or pressing buttons.
In which comes many different tasks like exercises that are performed by pushing the designated buttons. For instance, the game will let you do push-ups by repeatedly pressing the ZL and ZR immediately.
You can gain points from finishing such tasks to upgrade your body-improving equipment. Not to mention you can also transform your room into a personal fitness gym to your liking by using the points you gathered.
Aside from that, the game also introduced a new feature called Weight Miner. This feature is a points multiplier that decides how many points you will gain in each tap, and upgrading your Weight Miner can earn you more points for upgrading your gym.
Also, if you are tired of tapping and pressing buttons consecutively, the weight miner will do the job for you. Using the auto miner in this feature will passively earn points without breaking a sweat, making it perfect for putting your feet up and enjoying the game’s true idle nature.
It’s slightly ironic that a fitness-themed game could allow you to go completely idle, but who am I to judge?
Vostok Inc.
Vostok Inc is a clicker game that offers a different perspective to the idle genre. The game can be considered a hybrid, combining twin-stick shooter and clicker mechanics that blend perfectly.
The gameplay highlights space exploration with a heavy emphasis on profit earning, which you can gather throughout your journey. Moreover, Vostok lets you earn an overwhelming amount of Moolah, the game’s currency, in different figures.
Of course, you can use the Moolah you earned to upgrade your ships and weapons to strengthen your build. Also, you can unlock each boss’s battles by reaching the required amount, which rewards you huge profit once you defeat it.
On top of that, Moolah has many different uses in the game. For example, as you explore different areas such as planets, you can purchase a building factory for each planet to earn more Moolah.
As a clicker game, the rate of each Moolah you earn will increase from time to time. However, if there are instances that you’ve died in your run, your earnings will decrease in half.
Vostok is a game that changes the playing field when it comes to idle gaming.
Luna’s Fishing Garden
If you are looking for a game that will transfer you into a tranquil and calming state of mind, then Luna’s Fishing Garden is the game for you. The game embraces smooth 2D pixel animations with a relaxing 8-bit soundtrack.
With beautiful pixelized scenery and a cutesy art style, the game truly shines for players of all ages. It is a charming fishing game with slight interactive gameplay that makes it unique from other idle games.
Its gameplay loop is likely to be called a landscaping mechanic as you can destroy objects to make restricted areas accessible. Also, once you clear an area, animals will somehow redirect their movements towards the area you’ve cleared.
There, you can catch fish that are exchangeable into currencies essential to the game. To do this, you can talk to Luna, the spirit fox who owns the land, by trading the fish you caught into leaves.
Leaves are the main currency of the game, which you can use to purchase items such as fishing poles or upgrade them. Also, you can buy a multiplier to increase the number of leaves you will earn.
On top of that, the game also lets you plant trees and gardens to generate leaves automatically. Remember, the more leaves you have, the more chances of growing exponentially.
That said, Luna’s Fishing Garden is considered one of the best idle games on Switch and a good introduction for players in the idle genre.
Sword and Souls: Neverseen
Sword and Souls: Neverseen will take you from another angle to idle gaming. The game highlights slight action gameplay with a splash of a profit-earning mechanic. This incremental game has embraced an RPG feel that players will never get bored by playing it.
The game showcases a cartoonish art style with surprisingly decent animation that matches the game’s ambiance. Also, Neverseen is the game you will appreciate if you are into a light but action-packed atmosphere.
What makes this title an idle game is its auto-battle, in which it battles enemies passively until it reaches the last phase. However, you can only do that if you survive each battle you encounter.
To ensure that’s the case, you can strengthen your character by going to training. The training segment of the game comes in mini-games where you need to follow instructions to complete them.
That’s where this game shines; simple, idle combat and training.
Silent World
Another title to make it to this list is this game called Silent World. It is an idle game with an eerie vibe that focuses on exploration instead of the typical incremental gameplay.
It has a straightforward approach to the gameplay loop as you need to explore to discover your following path to progress. Although hazards are present in each area, a simple puzzle-solving will do to avoid such traps.
Furthermore, the area succumbs to darkness, and the only thing you see is your character. Then, your reliable companion is a matchstick, and this item will help you light your way so you can see what dangers lie ahead.
However, Matchsticks are limited and can only be obtained around the area. So, the critical thing is to utilize your resources sufficiently to keep yourself from dying.
Scary monsters are also present in the game, blending well in the dark. Getting hit by these creatures will result in total defeat, although you can learn from it by knowing their location next time you respawn.
Overall, Silent World is a game that is not as difficult to play as it seems; this game is designed to play casually.
The Unexpected Quest
If you are into the strategy side of idle gaming, then you will love to play The Unexpected Quest. This top-down clicker strategy game is a good mix of little RPG and resource management elements altogether.
What makes The Unexpected Quest unique is the time management system in which you are tasked to manage your allotted time from collecting or managing supplies. Also, you can build structures such as the barracks once you have vast resources.
Barracks are infrastructure where you can produce warriors such as knights to defend your kingdom and combat outside your base. In addition, you can also recruit other soldiers such as archers and mages by building their respective buildings.
However, you can only recruit soldiers if you haven’t reached the population capacity. To prevent this is by building houses to increase your capacity.
There are types of houses that each of which is designed with a significant number of population slots. For instance, building a large house can accumulate four units in one building.
But to progress in the game, you must do tasks or quests that are rewarding to finish. These quests are divided into two classifications: the main and the side quests, which you can do simultaneously.
This is a must-play for players fond of strategy gaming, especially in clicker games.
Epic Clicker Journey
As the name suggests, this game is truly the pinnacle of clicker games. Epic Clicker Journey is an idle game in which all you got to do is click on enemies until they are no more.
It gives players enough time to learn how the game goes from its overall gameplay to combat system with the beauty of simplicity. The main gameplay loop is to defeat monsters so you can obtain in-game coins to use for upgrading your damage.
Also, to defeat your enemies, tap the monsters in front of your screen consecutively. Again, there is no intricacy in the combat system whatsoever; smash your screen or buttons.
Melee weapons and armors are your greatest companion; upgrading them will make you stronger by sustaining incoming damage or dealing an amount of it. Also, collecting enough coins can buy potions and minions to assist you in each fight.
You can hire a fellow to fight for you, which is a massive help if you battle against much stronger enemies. Aside from hiring a companion, you can equip at least five items in the game to help you in battle.
This is a ridiculous game yet still contains its charm for players. Epic Clicker sets off a tone that all casual players would love.
Forager
Another title on this list is one of the best idle games called Forager. It is a 2D top-down idle game with beautiful pixelized graphics to give players a retro mood.
Forager’s main gameplay loop is to collect abundant resources such as minerals, trees, and fish around the small island. The main gist of the game is to start small until you grow it into an empire.
The main highlight of the game is its complex crafting and laborious resource collection, in which there are instances that you need to do dungeon crawling to obtain. However, entering dungeons can be pretty challenging as you’ll encounter bosses at the end.
To sustain your survival, you need to gear up using weapons or items at your disposal. The game will let you use incredible items to help you with your adventure; on top of that, you can create many practical items to gather for more.
Furthermore, the game has a simple way for you to obtain experience points, as every activity in the game will grant you EXP. This way, you can upgrade your gear and items to your liking.
However, activities will most likely deplete your energy. Fortunately, you can use fish you caught to compensate for your energy loss.
Overall, Forager is a game that makes you put in a lot of work until it becomes an idle game. However, the game has an active approach to the gameplay, making it arguably the best idle game on Nintendo Switch.
The Longing
It could not be an idle list without The Longing. This is a unique idle game that drops a traditional idle mechanic to give players a new touch to the gameplay. It also embraced an adventure and a walking simulator to the mix.
The Longing is far different from other incremental games players know, as the game takes a different approach to the whole genre. For instance, instead of increasing your resources, the game has a real-time system in which time counts down gradually.
Upon beginning the game, your clock will start to count until you reach the 400 days of waiting to wake up the king.
This time continues ticking even when not playing the game, meaning you can return to the game anytime you want – but you need to wait 400 days for its ending.
It also involves solving puzzles that take a matter of days, or even weeks, to finish.
Whilst this game is awfully slow, if you’re a persistent player, this is the game for you.
Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realm
This idle game will take you on a fantasy adventure, and Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realm will proudly provide that adventure craze for you. It is a Dungeons and Dragons idle game that players appreciate as they can play their notable characters from this famous RPG tabletop game.
This game is an instant hit for fantasy lovers as the game offers notable DND characters from your favorite campaigns and novels. You can play these fantastic characters, such as the kobold bard Deekin Scalesinger or Ezmeralda D’Avenir from the Forgotten Realm series.
This unique idle game drives the players by its story as it emphasizes interactions between characters to know their overreaching lore. Not to mention there are familiar stages that fans of DND will notice.
The combat system is also one of the highlights of the game as it embraced a tactical approach to the gameplay. Strategy is the best course of action in each fight, as characters can use their abilities depending on their positions.
With that being said, Idle Champions is not only about clicking and playing passively; this game will also test your strategic abilities to the fullest extent.
Fallout Shelter
This Fallout game has a different approach to the gameplay mechanic than the other titles that share the same universe. Fallout Shelter dropped the intense first-person shooter mechanic and embraced click-based idle gameplay to give players a different perspective of this post-apocalyptic game.
Instead of battling enemies head-on, the game lets you handle your vault to accommodate citizens existing in this post-apocalyptic world. You can layout and make rooms for dwellers with their facilities.
You can grow the number of vaults exponentially as you progress; having a vast amount of vaults will ensure safety for your dwellers. However, resource management is also present in the game, as you need to keep track of your resources every time.
For instance, electricity is an essential resource of the game, which gives power to the rooms you make. Having too many rooms without a significant purpose can waste your power, so, to make the most out of it is to increase your electrical capacity.
Overall, Fallout Shelter is an excellent game to introduce players to the wonders of idle gaming. This is my favorite idle game on Switch, and the fact it’s free-to-play only adds to the charm.
