So one of my vices is clicker games. I started with Cookie Clicker back in 2013 and with the sheer amount of them on mobile nowadays it isn't often I don't have one on the go. With that in mind I think I've seen enough to try and give some more well-thought-out reviews than the cookie-cutter "Google Play says I can have an opinion, therefore I MUST have one!" reviews you tend to get in the play store. First up is something I picked up recently, the blandly-named "Idle Magic Clicker - A Wizard Tap Game".
The premise is simple enough. You are a wizard, aiming to become the most powerful wizard in the land, and you aim to do this by drawing power from magical spheres that can absorb and multiply the power you put into them. You tap the lower part of the screen to cast magical charges at the sphere, which drains your mana but increases your power/second. You have to wait a little without casting to replenish your mana, and you can research magic by spending power, which lets you improve your power/second, mana regeneration, maximum mana, idle "charges" of the sphere per minute, or effectiveness of the game's most distinct mechanic, "overcharging".
Overcharging basically rewards hitting the sphere with a full payload of mana in one fast series of taps rather than say, holding the button down and just using up your mana slowly, by giving you a short burst of power/second multiplier that drops down rapidly once you stop firing. This mechanic is basically the way Idle Magic Clicker rewards active players, as in some cases (usually you having a lot more mana than your overcharge cap) it can be beneficial to fire half of your mana in a fast burst and then keep the overcharge ticking over at the increased value by tapping at a much more leisurely rate, keeping your overcharge multiplier as high as possible for the longest time possible. It's nice to see an active mechanic that actually rewards a bit of finesse and experimentation, even in something as simple as tapping. The other way active playing is rewarded is with little coloured "motes" that flit over the screen and give either power or Ancient Mana - more on that later - when tapped.
Over time you hit various power thresholds which allow you to summon more effective spheres to your hideout, which resets your research and power/second to the base amount, but with the new sphere's power multiplier in place. This makes a fairly clear-cut prestige system, loosely analogous to AdVenture Capitalist's Angel Investors or Cookie Clicker's Heavenly Chips. There is however another layer of prestige, and once you're powerful enough, you can choose to destroy the sphere to collect power stones. This resets you back to the first sphere, with no research and no power/second, but each power stone improves your power/second by 10%, similar to Realm Grinder's gems. It's a nice level of detail considering it has only been out a month, and hopefully is a sign of depth to come.
Next, let's talk "premium" features. Idle Magic Clicker has no IAP to speak of at all, which is a sigh of relief to anyone familiar with the usual structure of these sorts of games on mobile. There are video adverts, but they are strictly "opt-in for one this clearly specified reward" type adverts, with no screen-stealing monstrosities from menu changes, tabbing in and out, etc. These work in one of two ways, either offering a period of double power/second from one of the menus, or periodically offering one to you in exchange for a given amount of power, charges, or Ancient Mana, which serves as the game's "premium" currency, being used to buy upgrades that don't go away when you get a better sphere or blow one up for power stones. Aside from adverts and tiny amounts from the "motes" I mentioned earlier, you also get them from every 200 spells researched, so you're not completely barred from them without watching adverts, though they are definitely the fastest and most consistent source of them. While the game's description emphasises the developer's intent to have no IAP, I almost wish there was at least a paid option to skip all video ads and just be given their rewards.
In summary, it's a lot like Egg Inc before the multiplayer/missions, with a recharging resource that you discharge to improve your currency generation rate and a research tree that affects the generation of both, with less paywall and a little less charm. At the moment the only thing that changes in your hideout is the orb in the middle of it. None of the spells you research change what you're firing, and even the ones that claim to add minions or magical runes don't demonstrate this in any graphical way. Your rapidly increasing power level doesn't manifest visually in any way barring the colour of the orb you're shooting at and despite your wizard's lofty aspirations nothing seems to get in his way aside from that ever-present enemy in all clickers, time. It goes a long way towards being inoffensive, and what is present is well-executed, but there's very little that is truly unique about it. Hopefully given time to mature (and an appropriate coloured sphere to target) this will become a standout clicker, but for now it's merely competent, and the main draw is the ethics of the Developer.
