It's Bubblegum. How did the site's flagship game, Mythos Slayer, come to be, and what was I aiming for? I'll leave the how-to-play to the strategy guide and focus here on the design "philosophy" instead.
Why the bosses are from the Cthulhu Mythos
The bosses in this game are modeled on legendary monsters from the Cthulhu Mythos. Idle games are simple by nature, so what keeps you going is curiosity: "what's going to show up next?" Instead of generic enemies, I lined up 40 Cthulhu creatures whose names alone spark a little excitement, hoping to create that pull of "just one more." And if Cthulhu fans crack a knowing smile, all the better.
The feel of "mash to summon"
You play by mashing the spacebar (or clicking). But it's not only about hitting the boss. I placed the fun in summoning allies (soldiers, archers, dwarves) and filling the screen with a crowd. The satisfaction of striking with your own hand, plus the reassurance of a growing party fighting alongside you: those two things at once are what this game feels like.
The comfort of progress even while idle
Games that stall unless you keep your hands moving get exhausting fast. So I designed it so that even while idle, your commoners gather coins and your soldiers keep hitting the boss. Bosses reappear after they fall, so your forces and your coins keep growing even while you're away from the keyboard. Whether it's "time to really mash" or "time to just leave it running," I wanted the comfort of always moving forward.
The thrill of getting "endlessly stronger" through prestige
And the backbone of the game is prestige. Prestiging raises your coin multiplier, and the more you repeat it the more your soldiers grow without limit, until you're eventually fighting with astronomical numbers. The real joy of an idle game is the moment the figures leap by orders of magnitude. Stuck? Prestige and reset, and come back dramatically stronger. That rush of climbing is the part I most wanted you to experience.
Engineering "you just want to keep going"
Exciting Cthulhu bosses, the feel of mashing and summoning, the comfort of idle progress, and the thrill of getting boundlessly stronger through prestige. I built the "you just want to keep going" sensation around those four pillars. If any of that sounds good, give Mythos Slayer a try. For a concrete route through it, I've written a strategy guide.