• Game Concepts

Incremental Miner

• Created 23 August 2025
• Updated 24 August 2025

I have a love-hate relationship for incremental games. I feel like most of the time I don’t know why I’m playing them because they feel like I’m skinner boxed into pressing a button every few minutes/hours/whatever. I want to try designing one to see what makes them work, and see if I can stretch the genre to be more engaging for me, personally.

Inspirations

Mini Metro / Mini Motorways

Manage subways/trains/cars efficiently by drawing paths between points, ensure everyone can get to where they’re going quickly!

I really like the puzzle design and clear interface these games give you to manage things. Although I want path management, I think it’s a good idea to limit options so players don’t need to worry about being exactly correct about path placement., Mini Metro does a great job of that, and Mini Motorways as well, though it’s much more about drawing efficient traffic routes. I plan on blending the two.

ExoMiner

A classic incremental experience of mining resources to purchase upgrades to mine more resources until you hit enough points to leave… and do it all over again.

I’m not a big fan of waiting in this game, and the component/crafting mechanics wind up feeling pointless very quickly once you realize you can make loads of money off of simple to create things.

I think I’ll keep the incremental gameplay simple, and just sell ore to purchase upgrades.

Slipways

Manage trade routes while expanding a network of planets. keep your people happy and the money flowing!

This game features the exact vibe I want to have for this game. A meditative speed that can be beautiful to watch and the UI fits amazingly as well.

The probe feature and exploration is something I’d like to borrow. Not knowing where you’ll expand really adds to the gameplay and it’s something I want to have.

Game loop

flowchart TD
	probe["Probe for ore spots"]
	drill["Place a drill to mine ore"]
	path["Connect paths for ships to collect ore"]
	sell["Sell ore for money"]
	upgrade["Use money for upgrading ship speed/storage, drill speed/storage, or purchasing more drills and ships"]
	
	probe --> drill --> path --> sell --> upgrade --> probe

Tutorial

flowchart TD
	subgraph tutorial["Basic Tutorial"]
		initial["Player starts with *base* in the center of the screen, and a docked *ship*"]
		probe["Player probes a nearby area to detect ores underground"]
		mine["Player purchases a *drill* over a highlighted ore area"]
		path["Player connects a path from the *base* to the *drill*"]
		initial -- "Tutorial teaches probes" --> probe
		probe -- "Tutorial teaches drills" --> mine 
		mine -- "Tutorial teaches how paths" --> path
	end

Mechanics

Ships

The ships the player buys are basically space big rigs. They have a speed and storage stat, both of which can be upgraded. Storage will be in increments which will be displayed to the player as a trailer. The more storage a ship has, the more trailers will be trailing it. Speed will have a similar visual effect, which will be the amount and intensity of the thrusters it has

Upgrades

Drills

Drills are multifunctional, providing an area for ships to pick up cargo, as well as storing the ore they mine over time. They have a storage and speed stat.

Upgrades

• Speed
• Storage

Other thoughts

Should drills run out of ore to mine over time? This would force the player to adjust drills, making no solution truly solved. Worth playtesting this.

Paths

Paths are what ships will follow continuously, picking up ore as they pass through drills and dropping it off when they reach a base. Paths can cross, which will lead to significant slowdowns in ship speeds, increasing the amount of time a player has to wait to gain resources.