How much of a session does an idle-game player have no goal within reach?

The game may be full of things to buy, yet the player stares at a screen where the next one is far away. This entry shows how to measure that stretch as a share of time, and why counting samples instead of time gives a different answer.

Why this works

What holds people in an idle game is a goal within reach. Measuring how much real time passes with nothing close shows dull stretches that a count of events would hide, because events bunch up where goals are near and thin out where it drags.

When not to use it

Skip it in games where long quiet stretches are the design, such as a slow garden or a game played once a day. There a far goal is part of the charm, so ask players whether the wait feels good rather than counting it.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 36 lines of example code with 4 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "How much of a session does an idle-game player have no goal within reach?" (read_entry idle-empty-horizon-share-of-time) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP