Design idle & tycoon games that players can’t put down – no code required.
Have you ever looked at a tycoon game and thought “it’s just a button you tap – why is this making millions of dollars?” This course answers that question, and teaches you how to design one yourself.
What you’ll learn
- Design a core loop from scratch — the tap-earn-upgrade cycle that is the heartbeat of every tycoon and idle game.
- Apply exponential progression curves so players stay engaged for weeks, not days.
- Build offline earnings and idle mechanics that bring players back every session.
- Game Design: a balanced in-game economy with currencies, sources, sinks, and upgrade pacing.
- Monetize ethically using in-app purchases, rewarded ads, and battle passes.
- Design retention systems — daily rewards, events, streaks, and push notifications — that build real habit.
Course Content
- Welcome to Mobile Tycoon Games –> 1 lecture • 4min.
- The Core Loop: Tap, Earn, Upgrade –> 1 lecture • 6min.
- Exponential Progression & The Big Number Fantasy –> 1 lecture • 7min.
- Idle Mechanics & Offline Earnings –> 1 lecture • 5min.
- Economy Design: Currencies, Sources & Sinks –> 1 lecture • 6min.
- Upgrades, Unlocks & Pacing –> 1 lecture • 5min.
- Prestige & Meta-Progression –> 1 lecture • 6min.
- Monetization: IAP, Ads & Rewarded Video –> 1 lecture • 6min.
- Retention Mechanics: Dailies, Events & Notifications –> 1 lecture • 6min.
- Game Feel & Juicing –> 1 lecture • 8min.
Requirements
Have you ever looked at a tycoon game and thought “it’s just a button you tap – why is this making millions of dollars?” This course answers that question, and teaches you how to design one yourself.
Mobile tycoon games – idle games, incremental games, clicker games – are consistently among the top-grossing apps on the App Store and Google Play. Games like AdVenture Capitalist, Cookie Clicker, Idle Miner Tycoon, and Egg, Inc. look deceptively simple. Underneath that simplicity is a carefully engineered system of psychological loops, exponential curves, and pacing decisions. This course pulls all of that apart, piece by piece.
You’ll learn how to design the core tap-earn-upgrade loop, how to use exponential math to keep players progressing for months, how to build idle and offline mechanics that bring players back every day, how to design a balanced in-game economy, how to structure upgrades and prestige systems, how to monetize without feeling predatory, and how to add the game feel that turns a functional loop into something players genuinely love.
No coding knowledge required. This course is purely about game design thinking — the systems, the psychology, and the decisions behind the genre. All you need is a curious mind.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
- Understand why tycoon and idle games are among the most profitable games on mobile
- Design a core loop – the tap-earn-upgrade cycle – from scratch
- Apply exponential progression curves to keep players engaged for weeks or months
- Build idle and offline earning mechanics that drive daily retention
- Design a balanced multi-currency economy with proper sources and sinks
- Structure upgrade trees and pace new unlocks for maximum engagement
- Implement a prestige system that resets progress while keeping players hooked
- Design ethical monetization using IAP, rewarded ads, and battle passes
- Build a retention system using daily rewards, events, streaks, and push notifications
- Polish your game with juice, particles, haptics, and satisfying feedback