Clicker Heroes

Clicker Heroes
Logo for Clicker Heroes
Logo
Developer(s)Playsaurus
Publisher(s)Playsaurus
Platform(s)Web browser, Microsoft Windows, OS X, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release
  • Browser
  • 2014
  • Microsoft Windows, OS X
  • May 13, 2015
  • Mobile
  • Aug 20 2015
  • PlayStation 4
  • March 7, 2017
  • Xbox One
  • March 10, 2017
Genre(s)Idle
Mode(s)Single-player

Clicker Heroes is an idle game that was developed by American independent studio Playsaurus. It was originally released for browsers in 2014, for mobile devices in 2015, and for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles in 2017. The game is a spinoff of Playsaurus's earlier game Cloudstone, from which it uses many graphic elements.[1]

Clicker Heroes is free-to-play, but players can use microtransactions to buy an in-game currency called "rubies". This currency is not required to progress through the game;[2] it was added some time into the game's life and multiple gameplay mechanics center around obtaining the premium currency in-game.

Clicker Heroes received positive reception from critics; Nathan Grayson of Kotaku called it "[a] perfect office space distraction".[2]

Gameplay

Level 64, with the upgrade screen on the left and monster on the right

In Clicker Heroes, the player clicks on the monster to damage and eventually kill it. Once killed, the monster drops gold that can be used to upgrade and purchase characters. Purchased characters automatically damage the monster, increasing the player's total damage per second.[3] The game runs without the player needing to do anything.[4] The player must kill ten enemies in one level to advance to the next level. Starting at level five, every fifth level is a boss level, which only requires the killing of one monster to advance. Boss levels have a timer; the player must kill the boss within the allotted time. Between levels 100 and 1,000, every hundredth zone's boss is a "centurion" boss that drops Hero Souls when killed. Additionally, every boss after level 100 has a 25% chance of being "primal". Primal bosses give much greater amounts of Hero Souls in later stages of the game.[5]

The goal of Clicker Heroes is to obtain Hero Souls, which can be used to buy Ancients that give the player benefits, the nature of which depends on which Ancient is purchased. After primal bosses are killed, the player must perform an Ascension before they receive Hero Souls.[6]

Development and release

Clicker Heroes was released as a Flash game on the gaming website Kongregate in August 2014,[7] and on Armor Games in September 2014.[8] It was released onto the Steam platform in May 2015 for Microsoft Windows and OS X.[9] On August 20, 2015, Clicker Heroes was released for iOS and Android.[10] Version 1.0 was released in June 2016.[11] In May 2019, the iOS version was generating an income of $200-$300 per day until an international trademark dispute caused Apple to remove the game from the app store.[12] The browser game was relaunched in September 2022 on the gaming platform CrazyGames after a period of inaccessibility due to the discontinuation of Flash.[13][14]

Reception

Clicker Heroes received very positive reception from critics. Kotaku's Nathan Grayson said the game "[is a] perfect office space distraction".[2] Eurogamer writer Christian Donlan said the game was his "gaming secret" and is very addictive.[3] Forbes writer Paul Tassi said if the game gained traction in the mobile market, it could become the top mobile game of 2015.[15] Sammy Barker of Push Square gave the game a 5/10 score, stating, "Too many brickwalls [sic] prevent Clicker Heroes from reaching the highs of AdVenture Capitalist, but this is still a frighteningly addictive incremental title".[16]

Clicker Heroes' popularity on Steam initiated the release of other incremental games on that platform.[17] Clicker Heroes has inspired the creation of other games such as The Longing.[18]

Sequel

Playsaurus created a sequel called Clicker Heroes 2, which was available on Steam Early Access as of 2018.[19] Unlike the original Clicker Heroes, Clicker Heroes 2 is not free to play.[20] Gravity hired Playsaurus to develop a Ragnarok Online-themed version of Clicker Heroes that was titled Ragnarok Clicker, which was released on August 3, 2016.[21][better source needed]

References

  1. ^ "Kongregate: Play free games online". www.kongregate.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Grayson, Nathan (19 May 2015). "Clicker Heroes Is Super Popular On Steam... For Some Reason". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b Donlan, Christian (21 May 2015). "Going up? The mindless pleasures of Clicker Heroes". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  4. ^ Grayson, Nathan (20 May 2015). "I Left Clicker Heroes Running All Night And Here's What Happened". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Someone please take Clicker Heroes away from me before I play it all day". Destructoid. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b "I have a problem and its name is Clicker Heroes". Destructoid. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Play Clicker Heroes on Kongregate". Kongregate. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Clicker Heroes on Armor Games". Armor Games. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Clicker Heroes on Steam". Steam. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Clicker Heroes is now available globally on iOS and Android!". Posted on Reddit. 20 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  11. ^ Price, Josh (10 June 2016). "Clicker Heroes Patch 1.0 is Now Out". The Gamers Drop. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Apple pulls popular iOS game after Chinese company steals its name". Cult of Mac. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  13. ^ "Porting Clicker Heroes from Flash to Unity". Playsaurus. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Clicker Heroes 🕹️ Play Clicker Heroes on CrazyGames". www.crazygames.com. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  15. ^ Tassi, Paul (14 October 2014). "Why 'Clicker Heroes' Could Be The Top Mobile Game Of 2015". Forbes. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  16. ^ Square, Push (15 March 2017). "Review: Clicker Heroes (PS4)". Push Square. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  17. ^ Grayson, Nathan (1 August 2015). "Clicker Games Are Suddenly Everywhere On Steam". Kotaku. Gawker. Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  18. ^ Jackson, Gita (18 December 2020). "One Way To Beat This Upcoming Puzzle Game Is To Wait 400 Days". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 6 March 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  19. ^ "Clicker Heroes 2". Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  20. ^ Grayson, Nathan. "Clicker Game Ditches Microtransactions, Becomes Steam Best Seller". Steamed. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  21. ^ "Ragnarok Clicker on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.