Woo!
Out of Games is making games. And no, we're not just talking about the Arcade feature on the site which now has a multiplayer version of Connect 4 (Loot Drop) if you haven't been following along. Clickbait Tycoon is our first release here at FrostyVoid (under the FrostyVoid Games banner) and I'm excited to share some more details about the game while we're here promoting it.
Clickbait Tycoon is playable on Windows, macOS, and Linux. There are no plans for console ports, though there is basic controller support available at launch with more extensive support planned.
Developer Interview
Demon and I spoke about the game in a developer interview which he posted earlier today. If you haven't had a chance to read it, we talked about the busy schedule, why the game released in early access, my thoughts to share with other game developers, and more. If you're interested in a bit of behind-the-scenes knowledge, that's going to be your first step to take.
Out of Games Exclusives
If you've got an account here on Out of Games, and you want some fun little cosmetics to add to your gameplay in Clickbait Tycoon, we're officially opened up a part of our on-site shop to offer goodies for Gold and Platinum.
Check out the goodies over at the Clickbait Tycoon section.
This is a brand new type of integration for the website which requires you to link your Steam and Out of Games accounts together on the official Clickbait Tycoon website. This will ultimately add items to your Steam Inventory so they can appear in-game. Which... there is another reason you may want to link accounts.
Twitch Drops!
Yeah this one is a bit insane but I don't see enough indie developers touching it. Twitch Drops are going live for one week in the Clickbait Tycoon category and include five different items you can earn over 3 hours of watch time.
Watch 15 minutes to earn the Streamer Tee.
Watch 30 minutes to earn the Streambook Pro Laptop Skin.
Watch 60 minutes to earn The Streamer's Brew Rare Mug.
Watch 2 hours to earn the Streambound Vole Pal Variant.
Watch 3 hours to earn the Live on Twitch Article Skin.
There is always a chance that some of these could return in future Twitch Drops for the game, but as of right now they are going to be exclusive. You can watch to earn the drops and connect your Twitch account on the official Clickbait Tycoon website to save the rewards for the future if you aren't buying the game during the promotional period.
Looking for someone to watch? I'll be streaming live and via replay during the event covering gameplay, answering questions, and also doing some live development work on the first major update coming in September.
What is Clickbait Tycoon?
The game is an incremental idler themed in an augmented 1980s New York. It makes absolutely zero sense but that's part of the fun! You are running a newsroom and looking to build your empire one hire and one website at a time.
The game has plenty of mechanics to keep players engaged, including:
Boss Fights: Send your writer on a quest to get the latest scoop in 40 different quests. Collect gear to enhance your fighting and view generation potential.
Build Your Office: Once your empire starts, you can build rooms inside of your office tower to earn bonuses.
Pals: Pocket-sized creatures to aid you in battle. Cute stat sticks that you can season your mugs with.
The Desk: Complete editorial contracts to earn big bucks and lead your pursuit of knowledge.
Research: Unlock new features and improve the existing ones.
Achievements: Over 300 achievements to unlock throughout gameplay. How fast can you get them all?
Being in early access, the game isn't finished but its playable and the feedback so far from testers has been that it's fun and engaging. Major updates are expected roughly every month during the 6-12 month early access period before the game hits its full release.
The first major update is titled The RPG Update. You can learn more in the announced roadmap.
Early Access Detailed
Quote From Clickbait Tycoon on Steam Why Early Access?
Clickbait Tycoon is an idle/incremental game designed around weeks of progression. The balance curves that matter most can only be tuned against real players playing at a real pace. We plan to tune our mid and late-game economies with you, the community, while we continue to build out the remaining systems on our roadmap.
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
Approximately 6-12 months. We'd rather ship the full version right than rush a release date.
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
We plan to introduce a narrative campaign alongside our questing system, an enhanced Tycoon layer to better manage your business, and a full balance pass to keep gameplay fun in the early, mid, and late-game. Systems will be added, reworked, and rebalanced with community feedback.
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
Fully playable and stable! We have a save migration system in place so you can continue playing in every update. Current content includes our complete core loop (clicking, hire tiers, publishing, research), two layers of prestige (Websites, The Buyout), a writer-focused RPG with 40 quests, gear, and boss fights. Pocket Pals, an Office, Heat, Scandals, Payroll, Staff Policies, and events that happen daily, weekly, and seasonally. Offline progress, Steam Cloud saves, and accessibility options are also included.
Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
Yes. We are planning on increasing the price when we leave early access.
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
Check out our public roadmap on the store page. Every update will ship with patch notes and developer commentary. We'll be making balance changes based on community feedback sources from you on Steam and our Discord server.
Accessibility in Games
Accessibility is games is super important and as someone who has done passes on websites for that kind of functionality, putting anything we can into games to make them more approachable is only a positive.
Games with a lot of clicking can be rough, as can stylistic choices that may make text or graphics less clear. So, Clickbait Tycoon's goal is to have options to held aid gameplay as much as possible. You can find our accessibility options under the Accessibility tab in Settings.
High-Contrast Typos: There's a feature in the game that introduces a clickable Typo object on the newspaper clickable. If you hit it, you gain combo points which adds additional views. We have an option to enable a ring around it to make it easier to see - it can be difficult to see when its smaller in size.
Pixel Font: The default font in the game, although amazing, may not be for everyone. Because of this, you can disable the Pixel font and have it be replaced with Lexend. Lexend is an incredible font that has been proven to reduce visual stress and even aid dyslexic readers. I've been using it in Google Docs forever because it's just very pleasing to the eye.
Spacebar Clicking: If clicking your mouse fast with accuracy is difficult, you can use the spacebar to publish articles!
Reduce Motion: There are several elements in the mostly static game that move. If any of this doesn't feel good, you can remove most of the motion elements from gameplay to no ill effect.
Remove Scanlines: The entire game has a CRT-like scanline effect which can make it difficult to read some text. Enable this to get rid of it and enhance the clarity.
In addition to these basic toggles, we also have options to change boss fights. Boss fights can be a bit difficult to perform if your reaction timing isn't what it used to be, so you can opt to change the boss fight pace to "Relaxed" or "Chill" to increase the time between attacks. We also have two different boss fight styles. If clicking is difficult for you, or you just want to have a different kind of fun, you can enable the Typewriter mode which is a DDR-like mini-game that uses WASD, your arrow keys, or a controller's D-Pad to fight.
Clickbait Tycoon's accessibility options will improve over time. I expect some kind of color changes to different elements to enhance contrast, but that was out of the scope for the initial early access release. We'll add in new features here as time goes on and chase a final level of accessibility polish for the full 1.0 release in 2027.
Head on over to the official Steam page if you're interested in checking the game out. If not today, add it to your wishlist! You can also follow FrostyVoid Inc on Steam to get notified of any future releases. If you want to talk about the game, head on over to the Clickbait Tycoon realm here on Out of Games or join the FrostyVoid Games Discord.
Thanks all!
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