Revolutionizing Relaxation: How Greenheart Necromancer Transforms the Idle Game Landscape

List by Silverstring Media.

Glitchhikers creator Silverstring Media returns with another innovative game. This week, the studio unveiled Greenheart Necromancer, an “idle game” where players nurture a small balcony garden through the use of necromantic arts. Like many idle games, it is designed to be played over extended periods, with players stepping away and returning after time has elapsed to tend to their plants.

However, unlike typical idle games such as AdVenture Capitalist, AFK Arena, and Lazy Heroes, the developers at Silverstring aim to steer clear of the “exploitative microtransactions and pressure” often associated with the genre. As studio director Lucas J.W. Johnson and creative director Claris Cyarron explained to Game Developer in a recent discussion, the game is intended to encourage players to relax and help them manage their focus, rather than pushing them to gather resources as soon as their in-game timers expire.

How? Through two main strategies: providing players reasons to allow timers to run for long periods without checking them, and creating a soothing environment that mitigates the sting of “failure.” In terms that players would understand: it’s about enjoying the experience of being an average gardener while wielding the power of botanical necromancy to revive them.

Greenheart Necromancer encourages you to step away from the game

Cyarron mentioned to Game Developer that development on Greenheart Necromancer began after an internal game jam, where the small team quickly decided to create a game about a “balcony garden,” resembling the types they’d cultivated in their own homes during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. She pointed to the plant beside Johnson during our call, a lemon tree named “Linus,” which unfortunately has pest issues.

She noted that the idea of subverting the idle game genre was a fundamental part of the project—”flipping the script” on what they perceive as “harmful and problematic” game mechanics is part of the group’s core philosophy.

But in what ways are idle games “harmful and problematic?” Your experience may vary with “problematic” (they’re certainly not as addictive as gambling, and don’t put players at risk of losing their life savings), but the most successful ones often keep players engaged by juggling incentives that make them focus on timers the way a soufflé chef meticulously watches their dish.

The gratifying feeling that comes with perfectly managing those timers is often stretched further and further out, enticing players to either watch advertisements or purchase microtransactions to speed up timers. Combine that with the appealing sound design, vibrations, and visual effects that have been A/B tested to perfection, and you’ve created a genre designed to extract as much time, attention, and money from players as possible.

“It quickly capitalizes on the dopamine loop of wanting to see the next event unfold, which keeps you engaged with [the game] longer than you might intend,” said Cyarron.

Whether or not that’s “problematic” for the general public is debatable, but players who struggle with compulsive tendencies (especially neurodivergent individuals who might have difficulty concentrating or may hyperfocus on games) can find what should be a relaxing simulation game gradually becomes something that feels like an obligation or a task (this writer has experienced this numerous times and has largely sworn off free-to-play mobile games).

And when games feel like chores, the enjoyment vanishes.

The aspiration, Cyarron and Johnson said, is that Greenheart Necromancer never feels like a chore. At best, they envision it as a “coworking app,” something players can have running on another screen or device, producing “chill beats” and showcasing their plants swaying in the breeze.

It’s alright to let your plants perish

In the real world, gardening can be a chore because if you neglect your plants, they die. Most people don’t venture into gardening to ruin plants. In Greenheart Necromancer, death is unremarkable, since the player character is…well, a necromancer. They are a “socially anxious” witch who, much like many pandemic gardeners, lacks knowledge about plant care and finds it challenging to keep them alive.

Fortunately, if you can resurrect life from the dead, the pain of failure diminishes.

But it’s more than just turning back the clock. Johnson stated that the team has been trialing progression paths that only become available when players allow plants to die, so stepping away from the game for a few days while on vacation opens opportunities instead of resetting them.

“Instead of viewing the ‘down state’ as a state of failure, the down state is simply another moment where the game is waiting for the
player to enter something without any form of consequence,” added Cyarron.

You might also view in the announcement trailer how the team is employing slower—yet still captivating—animations to depict each interaction with the plant, differing from the animations and visual effects in traditional idle games.

The outcome is a gameplay loop designed to coexist with other aspects of the player’s life, rather than detract from it—though that feeling of “coexisting” will likely vary for different players. Cyarron explained that she has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and her ability to focus on tasks manifests differently compared to her colleagues (some who might struggle more, others who might struggle less).

Being capable of accommodating the diverse ways players manage their time and attention will be a crucial test for whether Greenheart Necromancer can genuinely make strides within the idle game genre.

The attention economy affects everyone

There is certainly a buzz in the air regarding discussions about “the attention economy.” You might have encountered the phrase “everything competes with TikTok,” referencing how the short-form video application has been meticulously designed to keep users scrolling from one video to the next, consuming time they could spend on other activities. As Allison Stanger noted in an article at The Atlantic, “platforms like TikTok and its U.S.-based counterparts Facebook, Instagram, and X aren’t just communication tools; they’re complex AI systems that shape, enhance, and suppress human expression based on proprietary algorithms optimized for engagement and data harvesting.”

“Attention is the essence of life,” television host Chris Hayes writes in his latest book The Siren’s Call, a comprehensive exploration of how modern technology and the economics of the internet have shaped our behaviors and politics. “Increasingly, it feels as though our experiences are not entirely ours, and the prevalence of that feeling signifies a sort of breach. Our control over our own minds has been disrupted. Our inner worlds have transformed in entirely unprecedented ways. This applies in nearly every nation and culture around the globe.”

So while engaging idle games are the primary reference point for the design sensibilities of Greenheart Necromancer, its creators recognize they’re not operating in isolation, and there’s a renewed focus on how various games occupy both the time and finances of players. “Take Stardew Valley, Johnson remarked, noting he appreciates using it as an example because it’s a game he enjoys. On the surface, Stardew Valley is a tranquil game centered on escaping the hustle of city life to embrace a more peaceful existence on the farm. “However, the game design includes this intrinsic need [for the player] to be as efficient as possible.”

This is because when players begin, they are tasked with pleasing the spirit of their deceased grandfather at the start of the third in-game year. To ensure the ghost is content, players must quickly learn the efficiencies of managing their farm, incentivizing the creation of intricate Rube-Goldberg machines that produce milk, eggs, and crops at incredible speed.

It’s a fine line to walk when critiquing that mechanic—after all, that objective (along with other milestones throughout the game) propels players forward and aids them in mastering the systems. Without it, millions of players would not have fallen in love with Stardew Valley.

The discussion expands further. Cyarron pointed out that players are expressing fatigue with large open-world RPGs—they may wish to immerse themselves in that virtual world or derive enjoyment from the experience, but the idea of dedicating countless hours of focused attention to appreciate all the extensive work the developers invested in the game is losing its appeal for some.

“I’m entirely pleased that the player base is beginning to express a conver