Progress Quest

Progress Wars: Idle Games and the Demarcation of "Real" Games

This paper examines how idle games, which reduce gameplay to a single repetitive interaction or automate it entirely, have served as a site for negotiating what counts as a "real" game.

• The paper argues that the category of "real" games is not a natural given but is actively produced through contested practices of designers, players, and critics, drawing on social constructivist views of games.
• Idle games began as parody: titles like Progress Quest (2002), StatBuilder Classic (2008), Progress Wars (2010), and Godville (2010) used reductio ad absurdum on RPG grinding mechanics to argue such progress involved no real skill.
• Ian Bogost's satirical Cow Clicker (2006) unexpectedly became hugely popular, revealing an absorptive "being in the zone" appeal that its critical intent had not anticipated.