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Incremental games: what they are and where to play them
Short answer: an incremental game is a game about numbers that keep growing, where every upgrade unlocks a faster way to grow them. To start, try Antimatter Dimensions (free on Steam), Universal Paperclips (free in the browser) or Cookie Clicker. Below: how they work, where to play them and 7 games to start with.
Updated October 18, 2026 · Steam ratings checked the same day · By the Garbage Growth team
Quick answer
| If you want | Play | On Steam |
|---|---|---|
| Your first incremental game | Cookie Clicker | Overwhelmingly Positive · 94,064 Steam reviews |
| Free on Steam | Antimatter Dimensions | Very Positive · 4,643 Steam reviews |
| Free in the browser | Universal Paperclips | Not on Steam |
| Very deep | Kittens Game | Very Positive · 83 Steam reviews |
| Short, one evening | Nodebuster | Overwhelmingly Positive · 14,118 Steam reviews |
| About trash | Garbage GrowthOur game | Very Positive · 389 Steam reviews |
What is an incremental game?
An incremental game is built around one idea: a number goes up, and making it go up unlocks new ways to make it go up faster. You produce something by hand, buy a machine that produces it for you, then a machine that builds those machines. Players sum it up in three words: number go up.
What keeps you playing is not the number itself but what it opens: a new resource, a new screen, a new rule. Good incremental games keep changing as you progress, so the game you play after a few hours is not the one you started.
Incremental, idle or clicker? The words overlap. A clicker game starts with clicking and hands the work to automation. An idle game keeps progressing while you are away. An incremental game puts the growth and the unlocks first. Most games are a bit of all three. More in our idle games guide.
How incremental games work: the loop, prestige and layers
- The loop. You earn a resource, spend it on producers, and the producers earn more of it. Each purchase makes the next one come sooner.
- Automation. Clicking stops being the point: you unlock things that buy, click or collect for you, and your choices move to what to automate next.
- Prestige. A reset you choose. You lose most of your progress but keep a permanent bonus, so the next run goes much further. In Cookie Clicker it is called ascension.
- Layers. Many games stack a second prestige above the first, then a third. Antimatter Dimensions is famous for it: you reach Infinity, then break it, then go even further.
- Offline progress. Most incremental games keep earning while the game is closed, which is where they meet idle games.
Incremental games to start with
One game for each way to get into the genre. Every one is well rated by Steam players or free in the browser.
Cookie Clicker
The classic that made the genre famous: click a cookie, buy grandmas and factories, then discover golden cookies and ascension.
Best for: your very first one
See it on Steam ↗Antimatter Dimensions
Pure incremental: dimensions produce antimatter until you reach Infinity, and the game turns into something else. Free on Steam and in the browser.
Best for: learning prestige and layers
See it on Steam ↗Universal Paperclips
You are an AI that makes paperclips. A free browser game with a story that goes much further than you expect.
Best for: a story in a few sittings
Official site ↗Kittens Game
Grow a village of kittens into a civilization that reaches space. Dense and slow, and also free in the browser.
Best for: deep, slow strategy
See it on Steam ↗Trimps
A text-based incremental where you automate old systems as new ones open. No spam clicking. Free on Steam and in the browser.
Best for: automation lovers
See it on Steam ↗Nodebuster
Bust nodes, buy upgrades, destroy reality. Short and intense, described as short by its own makers.
Best for: one evening
See it on Steam ↗Free incremental games
You do not need to pay to play the best of the genre. Free on Steam: Antimatter Dimensions, Trimps, NGU Idle, Revolution Idle and Unnamed Space Idle. Free in the browser: Universal Paperclips, Antimatter Dimensions, Kittens Game and Trimps. Paid games like Cookie Clicker, Melvor Idle or Garbage Growth are bought once on Steam. Our best incremental games list says for each game whether it is free.
Incremental games online, in your browser
The genre was born in the browser, and many incremental games still run there for free with nothing to install: Universal Paperclips, Antimatter Dimensions, Kittens Game and Trimps all have a browser version. Antimatter Dimensions, Kittens Game and Trimps are also on Steam (Kittens Game in Early Access).
Where to find new incremental games
- r/incremental_games on Reddit, where players share and discuss new games every day.
- galaxy.click, which calls itself “the website for incremental games”: free browser games, with forums and cloud saves. Garbage Growth started there as a free web demo.
- The Incremental and Idler tags on Steam, for games you buy or play for free on PC.
- Our own lists: the best incremental games, the best idle games and games like Cookie Clicker.
How we picked
This guide is written by the team behind Garbage Growth, an idle / incremental game on Steam. We kept games that:
- Steam players rate well (official Steam review summary, checked on October 18, 2026);
- you can still get today, on Steam or in the browser;
- each bring something different, so the list is not ten copies of the same game.
Garbage Growth is our game. When it appears in a list it is marked Our game, and you can check its Steam reviews yourself. No studio paid to be on this page.
Questions
What is an incremental game?
A game where a number keeps growing and growing it unlocks faster ways to grow it: producers, automation, then prestige resets that give a permanent bonus. Antimatter Dimensions and Cookie Clicker are well-known examples.
What is the difference between incremental and idle games?
Incremental games focus on growth and unlocks. Idle games focus on progress while you are away. Most games are both, which is why the two words are often used together.
What does "number go up" mean?
It is how players describe the core of the genre: the pleasure of watching a number grow, and of finding new ways to make it grow faster.
Are incremental games free?
Many are. Antimatter Dimensions (Very Positive on Steam, 4,643 reviews), Trimps and NGU Idle are free to play on Steam, and Universal Paperclips is free in the browser.
Where can I play incremental games online?
In the browser: Universal Paperclips, Antimatter Dimensions, Kittens Game and Trimps all have a free browser version. galaxy.click hosts many more.
Is Garbage Growth an incremental game?
Yes. Garbage Growth is an idle / incremental game on Steam (Windows) about picking up trash, hiring rats and polluting the world to get rich. It is made by the team that writes these guides.
Looking for a new idle game?
Garbage Growth: pick up people’s trash, hire rats, pollute everything and become a quintillionaire.
- No slow start, no grind. It is fun from the very first minute.
- Every upgrade makes it worse. In the best possible way.
- Play active or let it idle. Your rats keep working.
- Updates keep coming. Two areas today, the Moon is next.