---
key: mechanic/progression-rewards--t244
type: mechanic
id: progression-rewards--t244
lang: en
title: 'Idle, incremental and offline progress'
summary: >-
  Accumulation continues with limited player attention while upgrades
  periodically change the production structure.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/progression-rewards--t244/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/progression-rewards--t244.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/progression-rewards--t244.md
aliases:
  - Idle and incremental progression
tags:
  - 'Progression, rewards and retention'
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-3817d420df0baa92
  - source-795790c1ce78a8a6
sources:
  - id: source-3817d420df0baa92
    title: 'Robert Nystrom: State'
    url: >-
      https://github.com/munificent/game-programming-patterns/blob/master/book/state.markdown
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-795790c1ce78a8a6
    title: Cookie Clicker
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454400/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations:
  - type: uses
    direction: outgoing
    label: Sources in the selection
    key: resource/state-pattern
    title: 'State: Game Programming Patterns'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-state-pattern'
    jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.json'
    markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.md'
placements:
  - catalogId: progression-rewards
    id: t244
    title: 'Progression, rewards and retention'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/progression-rewards/#t244'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Idle and incremental progression
    description: >-
      Accumulation continues with limited player attention while upgrades
      periodically change the production structure.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/priority-cookie-clicker-01.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: Cookie Clicker
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454400/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1454400/ss_0ccbd62dbbf733bf630885d76f7bdf61af93d0be.1920x1080.jpg?t=1792369237
      credit: Orteil / DashNet / Playsaurus
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Cookie production and building purchases
      alt: Cookie production and building purchases
      markers:
        - x: 16
          'y': 21
          label: Accumulated currency
        - x: 91
          'y': 41
          label: Purchases change the production rate
    tips:
      - Show each upgrade’s production gain and avoid unbounded waiting.
    examples:
      - title: Cookie Clicker
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454400/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on
  2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design
  examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests.
  Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not
  every proposed variant.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/progression-rewards
---
# Idle, incremental and offline progress

id: progression-rewards--t244
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/progression-rewards--t244
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/progression-rewards--t244/

Accumulation continues with limited player attention while upgrades periodically change the production structure.

## At a glance

![Cookie production and building purchases](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/priority-cookie-clicker-01.webp)

[Cookie Clicker](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454400/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Accumulated currency
2. Purchases change the production rate

- Show each upgrade’s production gain and avoid unbounded waiting.

- [Cookie Clicker](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454400/)

## How it works

Accumulation continues with limited player attention while upgrades periodically change the production structure.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t244-variants"></a>

- Automatic production replaces repeated manual input. <a id="t244-v1"></a>
- Storage caps limit accumulated output. <a id="t244-v2"></a>
- Offline simulation accounts for an elapsed interval. <a id="t244-v3"></a>
- Bottlenecks change the best next purchase. <a id="t244-v4"></a>

## Design example

A workshop runs unattended until storage fills and calls for a new allocation of goods.

Prototype check: Test clock changes and repeated loads so one interval is not rewarded twice or converted into negative income.

## Context and limits

Progression changes player options and goals; rewards should explain new decisions and preserve useful stopping points. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map.

## Connected materials

- Sources in the selection: [State: Game Programming Patterns](https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-state-pattern) (key: resource/state-pattern)

## Sources and provenance

Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.

- [Robert Nystrom: State](https://github.com/munificent/game-programming-patterns/blob/master/book/state.markdown) (id: source-3817d420df0baa92)
- [Cookie Clicker](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454400/) (id: source-795790c1ce78a8a6)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors