I love clicker and idle games. From Clicker Heroes to Cookie Clicker, Realm Grinder, Paperclips, and A Dark Room, there’s something about that incremental journey from nothing to massive, earth-shattering numbers that draws me in every time. So you can imagine how I felt when I learned that there’s a new incremental game that also has some of the DNA of Factorio in it. In short, my interest was more than piqued. If that sounds like your kind of melange then Widget Inc might be right up your alley, and it’s already making waves just days after launch.
Widget Inc starts you off with a single widget factory, where all you can really do is press a single button to create the most basic of resources – the titular widget. Like the best clicker games, however, this lonely button on an isolated screen is only the start and things rocket sky high (and beyond) quite quickly after that. Soon you’ll have iron mines and smelters feeding into your factory, with things getting automated quickly and the idea of pressing buttons yourself being a long forgotten memory.
Everything follows smoothly in Widget Inc. As you place buildings you’ll unlock research options, which in turn require new resources which require new buildings. Before long your tiny widget factory will span an entire country, but it’s not as simple as plonking everything down without thought. Buildings have bonuses that depend on their location relative to each other, so there’ll be plenty of tearing things down to optimize your rapidly growing factory.
As with most clicker games there’s an end goal in mind, and here it’s to get off your ruined planet. Eventually you’ll be able to build a rocket to head to other planets, spreading widgets to the rest of the galaxy. Or you can decide to stay where you are and simply work on your existing factory, it’s up to you.
With 93% of reviews coming in positive, Widget Inc is definitely hitting the right notes with its fans at launch. If there are any flies in its ointment, however, it’s that the developer freely admits that some of the art has been modified via AI, and some players report that the end of the game can come quite quickly once you know what you’re doing. That said, neither appear to be bothering its community too much just yet.
Widget Inc is out now and you can save 10% as an introductory offer until Thursday November 7. Head over to Steam to learn more, and to see if you fancy your chances building your own colossal factory.
Or instead you can always take a look at our guides to the best management games and the best building games, for all the micromanagement you’ll ever need.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.