What If Your Phone Addiction Was Actually Building an Empire? (A Game Dev Story)
Tanish Paul created Doomscroll 2077, a cyberpunk idle clicker game available at doomscroll2077.netlify.app. The game requires no download or signup—just a browser. Players start with a smartphone and scroll to accumulate AURA, which can be used to unlock neural implants, sponsor uplinks, and black market nodes. Progress continues even when the app is closed, a hallmark of idle games. Paul notes that idle games require no skill and have no failure state, making them accessible. The game satirizes the average person's 3 hours 43 minutes daily social media consumption, which amounts to 53 days per year. Doomscroll 2077 is free to play and designed for short or long sessions.
Shows how idle game mechanics can repurpose addictive behaviors into engaging, passive gameplay.