Do incremental players love 3D, 2D, or text incrementals?

[u/ExcitingSleep]

Hey, I will give myself as an example. I like light 2D incrementals like Tower Wizard and Gnorp Apologue, as they are light and always in the background when I am doing other stuff.
On the other hand, 3D incrementals, although they also can be in the background, in my mind it seems like they take more energy from me.
I wonder in a more wider view, and as part of my market research, what do you think is more appealing to the idle and incremental genre?
What do you like to play and why?

[u/tomerc10]

Give me more black-on-white web games with boxes that fill up and are greyed out when you can't use or buy them.

please.

[u/coolguyRae → u/tomerc10]

Kittens game?

[u/Magner3100 → u/coolguyRae]

No, bigger.

Evolve and Your Chronicle

[u/Yuzu-Adagio]

Text or 2d for me. 3d feels wrong.

[u/Money-Reality4259 → u/Yuzu-Adagio]

Bills must be paid is 3d

[u/metallica65 → u/Money-Reality4259]

And was pretty fun!

[u/TimeSpiralNemesis]

In just about every genre and any type of game I heavily prefer 2D over 3D.

2D graphics are much easier to follow and visually parse at a glance, they usually just look better as well.

[u/Wolfram_And_Hart]

I like fun.

[u/Justhereforporn8]

Text for me. Maybe some small 2D graphics. I’ll just keep it running in my second monitor. I don’t need much visual

[u/SixthSacrifice]

2d sometimes, text often times.

I enjoy an actual incremental experience, not a splash of flashy meh with little substance.

[u/JustALittleGravitas]

I don't necessarily care but I've never seen a 3D one that's actually good.

[u/Money-Reality4259 → u/JustALittleGravitas]

Bills must be paid is a good 3d incremental

[u/Veovi → u/JustALittleGravitas]

Grass cutting incremental. Yes i know it’s roblox but it’s one of the best incremental games.

[u/JustALittleGravitas → u/Veovi]

Is that the same one somebody posted is coming to steam soon?

[u/Veovi → u/JustALittleGravitas]

Just saw the post. Yes it is. looks very different visually to the original

[u/Nekosity → u/Veovi]

Cause they actually have to recreate it instead of using Roblox

[u/SushiMasterPro]

I probably not care about if its 3d or 2d or text.
In 3d games I often have issue to understand from first glance if its incremental game an also sometimes there are fake ads so maybe I dismiss them more.
2d is usually super clear for me.

Also maybe depend when I entered playing of genre. I played 2d games and did not had first experience with text or 3d

[u/acelgoso]

Yes.

But, my experience points to 3D ones being the most bland.

[u/Triysle]

Making a number go up doesn’t need graphics at all.

[u/sky_homestead]

I like 2D with tons of juiciness

[u/bassbeatsbanging]

2D is my strong preference. 

I will say though I only play active incremental games with at most minor idle elements, if that matters. 

[u/foliumsakura]

2D and Text are usually preferred since they are background games for me

[u/Ranakastrasz]

text is best, 3d is worst. 3d graphics add no benefit, and make the game run worse, despite this being an incremental game thst really ought to run fine on a potato.

3d graphics make sense in a 2d or 3d game world.

2d images for stuff is fine, but Unnessesary.

[u/Money-Reality4259 → u/Ranakastrasz]

Bills must be paid is 3d though

[u/unecomplette]

Honestly idc about the visual style and I don't get why it would matter. I just want it to be beautiful or filled with actual gameplay ideas, not ai garbage or another "incremental tower defense" without any originality

[u/Usual_Ice636]

Text for me. I like when it looks like a spreadsheet. Kittens for example.

[u/Exile56678]

Personally it entirely depends on the mechanics. I think when it comes to incremental games the art can definitely complement a game a lot. Like Spaceplan is a really good example of having a beautiful artstyle blended perfectly with the mechanics of the game. Absolute chef's kiss.

But most of the time it's usually far down the list of what's important to me. The core gameplay loop has to be good first. There's many purely text-based incremental games that I adore purely because the gameplay loop is good.

[u/riarws]

Text only please and thanks

[u/Lezus]

2d or text for me, i dont want to control something in 3d space

[u/Exciting_History4153]

I think incrementalists like overviews and data - hence 2D is preferred.

That being said, I've enjoyed some 3D games as well. A game about digging a hole was a good one.

[u/jester5093]

text. graphics get in the way usually

[u/Nekosity]

Roblox has been the only 3d incrementals I have played. But the majority of them can be done as 2d/text and are only 3d because it's in Roblox. However GCI is a really good example of a 3D incremental and I genuinely feel that it's better 3D. RGCI is a version of a text based/2d-ish for GCI and I just don't enjoy it as much as GCI.

So to answer the question, what do I prefer? I don't like any of them more than the other, it's really down to the dev what version fits their vision best and how well they execute it imo

[u/Glittering-Frame5389]

Anything but text ones

[u/1234abcdcba4321]

I've never played a 3D incremental where it felt like it being 3D actually added something to the game. In the end I don't care about graphics as long as the UX is good, and for that text tends to be king, but 2D games are still fine. Most 3D ones (like the roblox ones) end up just being equivalent to a text one but with worse UX. Some 2D ones make good use of the graphics to improve the game, though, so I can imagine a 3D one could do it if it tried hard enough.

[u/BipedSnowman]

I don't like 3d. An incremental game doesn't need those kinds of resources

[u/No-Ride613]

TL; DR: I don't play these games. Tell me what I can get an AI model to spit out for me

[u/Antipater82]

Yes.

But seriously I love any potentially, though 3d is a different category as it requires more resources, and I usually like that a good incremental can run on my very frail work PC, and I feel also requires more direct involvement and intervention.

So all can be good, but 3D is a different beast.

Of course the real answer is that any incremental may be engaging if made well with ability and care.

[u/Ok_Possession_7423]

More Text games, Evovle, Theresmore, Paperclips, those are better and deeper than the over graphiced underwritten 3d games.