Working on base game 100% completion. I have sunk so much time into this game over the past few months.
I think the average person would not rate this game as high as I have, but it is because my specific history of video games that I give it the rating I do. I grew up playing Runescape since I was 10 years old. That game had so much wonder for me as a kid. Somehow even when I take a break from Runescape, I get sucked back in periodically. I have an almost maxxed account, but I finally decided that I need to step away because of the time the game requires and the poor direction that Jagex is headed for RS3 specifically. At this point, enter Melvor Idle. It is obviously inspired by Runescape, but all of the grinding is done passively. Each day, you set your character to grind something, and they will do so for up to 24 hours or something in the game stops them (such as full bank or character death to name the two options I've seen most). It scratches the "numbers go up" kind of joy that Runescape gives while also respecting your time because you do not have to click for every single action. It is nice to check in on it once a day while I wake up in the morning.
I use quality of life mods, such as ones that do math for you or eliminate unnecessary clicks. I suggest if you want to play this game, use the mods, but don't download ones that significantly change the gameplay. The game is meant to be a marathon, not a sprint.
As one last mention, you can make multiple characters on your account. It is fun to have a regular character, then make some challenge characters with either self-imposed rules or the included alternate game modes available.
I use quality of life mods, such as ones that do math for you or eliminate unnecessary clicks. I suggest if you want to play this game, use the mods, but don't download ones that significantly change the gameplay. The game is meant to be a marathon, not a sprint.
As one last mention, you can make multiple characters on your account. It is fun to have a regular character, then make some challenge characters with either self-imposed rules or the included alternate game modes available.
So, I don’t typically give a game a review before I’m done with it. But, I am compelled to give my glowing recommendation for Melvor Idle. My account for this game has been active for 260+ days and I’ve opened the game to “play” it over 150 different days in that timeframe. This is mostly possible because in the game, my character is able to do tasks while I’m away for up to 24 hours. So, in a sense, one could argue I’ve played (or managed) this game for over 3000 hours. If you’re seeing this review on Steam, you’ll notice my playtime absolutely does not match that, and that’s because the cross-save between mobile, browser, and its mobile app are divine. 99% of the time I’ve got it open just in a browser while I’m doing other stuff.
Three-thousand hours. Haven’t beaten it yet (and may never at this rate, completion log says I’m at about 35%)… but I think all my time puts me in a pretty informed position to give my opinion, yeah?
So what is Melvor Idle? As you may have guessed from its title, it’s an idler type game. This one has a coat of paint to make it feel very adjacent to the vibes of something like RuneScape… Plenty of trees to chop, monsters to kill, ore to mine, loot to sell, etc. Yet it’s all done through a very minimalistic, clean, menu-like interface.
Now, I’ve played (if you can call it that) a couple idler type games. Cookie Clicker has been my go-to and is fantastically fun, but with each new time I pick it up, I get to a point where I reach a standstill. In the late game of Cookie Clicker, the only thing left to do for fun is game the stock market best I can, pull a few rare combos for huge numbers, and add a couple more buildings every ascension. That’s about as interesting as the end game gets; the boredom setting in at about 500–1500ish hours of the game running. Comparatively, I haven’t reached a point in Melvor Idle where a similar exhaustion has occurred despite “playing” for at least double the time, and honestly, I’m not sure if it will ever happen. I revere Cookie Clicker, and love what it gets right but Melvor Idle… has done this whole idling thing in a totally different way that just works better for me. I’m calling it my new gold standard for these types of games, honestly.
Melvor Idle starts you off as a lowly, practically incapable person. Which leaves you with a lot of options to start doing whatever you want. Will you mine for ore? Fight monsters? Cook food? Practice Magic? It’s all up to you. A lot of activities you “set and forget.” Let your character work on something, then come back 24 hours (or less) later and manage the resources obtained in that timeframe. Getting started is a little tricky because of limited inventory space but that quickly goes away with a few upgrades.
With so many activities, it may be overwhelming in the beginning, but trust me, just pick what you think is interesting, and you’ll learn how it all works along the way. Some things unlock other things. Some “quests” I’ve given myself have led me down a rabbit hole through the games wiki (shortcuts to it are abundant in-game) and that leads to several smaller mini adventures. Melvor Idle is not super complex, and definitely not difficult by traditional game means, but the interconnectedness of all its items and systems with that touch of creativity is just enough to stir my imagination to keep me coming back just about every day to play more.
Some would argue that there is a lot of “Grinding” to do, and to them I say what? Did you expect? Are you watching the game the whole time? Recently my character completed a quest after fighting 69,420 Goblins for a real-life week straight and I’m feeling incredible. Sometimes it really is like that. Just pick the next thing to do and let it be. Check on it here and there and let it keep going. Occasionally you’ll accomplish a little thing here or there, and to a degree it really is up to you to decide how long you’ll be committed to doing something. If the lengthiness of the wait concerns you, you can play the Goblin Raid mini game while you wait, which is just a relatively fun, bare bones roguelite mode filled with endless combat that needs to be managed much more frequently than anything else (in the early stages).
If I had to have one critique: I would love to see a little more variety in the activities. I think the “Atlas of Discovery” Expansion nudged the game in that direction, as archaeology and cartography are very fun skills and feel distinct as you master them—even though technically in the end, it really is more clicking, and waiting. But they FEEL distinct in with how you manage them, and it makes them some of the most fun skills in the game. But to reiterate, the base game, that is much less complex, is something I still love and enjoyed before I bought this expansion. But because of this expansion, I’d love to see the devs continue to make that “feeling” of variety in future expansions. I’d even love some more “do this while you wait” type activities like the Goblin Raid to help with this.
Ultimately, I can’t help but recommend Melvor Idle. I think it’s extremely successful in every aspect it’s shooting for and then some, all making for a game that I think is great to have always going on in the background. There’s a massive wealth of content in the base game, and if that’s not enough there are expansions and mods to keep you interested enough to check in daily for weeks on end, even if all you’re really doing, is clicking and waiting in a really fun and engaging way.
You can actually play a short demo of the game if you visit its website or download the mobile version. But, if you enjoyed this review enough to be moved to purchase the game, consider supporting my reviewing efforts by purchasing Melvor Idle’s Steam Key through my Green Man Gaming affiliate link here. Thank you for reading!
Originally Posted to Medium
Three-thousand hours. Haven’t beaten it yet (and may never at this rate, completion log says I’m at about 35%)… but I think all my time puts me in a pretty informed position to give my opinion, yeah?
So what is Melvor Idle? As you may have guessed from its title, it’s an idler type game. This one has a coat of paint to make it feel very adjacent to the vibes of something like RuneScape… Plenty of trees to chop, monsters to kill, ore to mine, loot to sell, etc. Yet it’s all done through a very minimalistic, clean, menu-like interface.
Now, I’ve played (if you can call it that) a couple idler type games. Cookie Clicker has been my go-to and is fantastically fun, but with each new time I pick it up, I get to a point where I reach a standstill. In the late game of Cookie Clicker, the only thing left to do for fun is game the stock market best I can, pull a few rare combos for huge numbers, and add a couple more buildings every ascension. That’s about as interesting as the end game gets; the boredom setting in at about 500–1500ish hours of the game running. Comparatively, I haven’t reached a point in Melvor Idle where a similar exhaustion has occurred despite “playing” for at least double the time, and honestly, I’m not sure if it will ever happen. I revere Cookie Clicker, and love what it gets right but Melvor Idle… has done this whole idling thing in a totally different way that just works better for me. I’m calling it my new gold standard for these types of games, honestly.
Melvor Idle starts you off as a lowly, practically incapable person. Which leaves you with a lot of options to start doing whatever you want. Will you mine for ore? Fight monsters? Cook food? Practice Magic? It’s all up to you. A lot of activities you “set and forget.” Let your character work on something, then come back 24 hours (or less) later and manage the resources obtained in that timeframe. Getting started is a little tricky because of limited inventory space but that quickly goes away with a few upgrades.
With so many activities, it may be overwhelming in the beginning, but trust me, just pick what you think is interesting, and you’ll learn how it all works along the way. Some things unlock other things. Some “quests” I’ve given myself have led me down a rabbit hole through the games wiki (shortcuts to it are abundant in-game) and that leads to several smaller mini adventures. Melvor Idle is not super complex, and definitely not difficult by traditional game means, but the interconnectedness of all its items and systems with that touch of creativity is just enough to stir my imagination to keep me coming back just about every day to play more.
Some would argue that there is a lot of “Grinding” to do, and to them I say what? Did you expect? Are you watching the game the whole time? Recently my character completed a quest after fighting 69,420 Goblins for a real-life week straight and I’m feeling incredible. Sometimes it really is like that. Just pick the next thing to do and let it be. Check on it here and there and let it keep going. Occasionally you’ll accomplish a little thing here or there, and to a degree it really is up to you to decide how long you’ll be committed to doing something. If the lengthiness of the wait concerns you, you can play the Goblin Raid mini game while you wait, which is just a relatively fun, bare bones roguelite mode filled with endless combat that needs to be managed much more frequently than anything else (in the early stages).
If I had to have one critique: I would love to see a little more variety in the activities. I think the “Atlas of Discovery” Expansion nudged the game in that direction, as archaeology and cartography are very fun skills and feel distinct as you master them—even though technically in the end, it really is more clicking, and waiting. But they FEEL distinct in with how you manage them, and it makes them some of the most fun skills in the game. But to reiterate, the base game, that is much less complex, is something I still love and enjoyed before I bought this expansion. But because of this expansion, I’d love to see the devs continue to make that “feeling” of variety in future expansions. I’d even love some more “do this while you wait” type activities like the Goblin Raid to help with this.
Ultimately, I can’t help but recommend Melvor Idle. I think it’s extremely successful in every aspect it’s shooting for and then some, all making for a game that I think is great to have always going on in the background. There’s a massive wealth of content in the base game, and if that’s not enough there are expansions and mods to keep you interested enough to check in daily for weeks on end, even if all you’re really doing, is clicking and waiting in a really fun and engaging way.
You can actually play a short demo of the game if you visit its website or download the mobile version. But, if you enjoyed this review enough to be moved to purchase the game, consider supporting my reviewing efforts by purchasing Melvor Idle’s Steam Key through my Green Man Gaming affiliate link here. Thank you for reading!
Originally Posted to Medium