Stop what you're doing and play Clicky Islands

Hey folks,

I had a whole newsletter planned for today about something else entirely, but then at 6pm on a random Thursday, Bucky from Pocketpair Publishing (Dead Take, Windrose, Palworld) posts that they're publishing a new game from a two person team in Poland.

This game is now all I can think about.

I'm obsessed with it. So obsessed, in fact, that I threw out my original draft and am opening this week's Supporter-only newsletter to all subscribers because you've just gotta check this demo out. Hope you enjoy it!

But first, the giveaway zone 🎁

I'm running two giveaways in the Discord for LFG Supporters this week: codes for Ambrosia Sky and Dodo Duckie! Entries close August 2.

Ambrosia Sky mixes the relaxing gameplay of PowerWash Simulator with a melancholy story. You return home after years away to find your old colony has been destroyed, and everyone you knew is either dead or gone. Clear up the alien contagion, investigate what happened to the colony, and gather alien fungus for your employers who are trying to unlock the secret to immortality. Ambrosia Sky: Act Two launches on August 6, so it's a perfect time to play Act One!

In Dodo Duckie, you play as an adorable duck with a special hat that lets you switch between 2D and 3D. Solve puzzles and rescue your chicken pals from alien ab-duck-tion (I'm sorry) in this quirky puzzle platformer.

If extra newsletters, Discord access, code giveaways, and my eternal thanks sounds good to you, then consider becoming an LFG Supporter!

Back to Clicky Islands...

Clicky Islands is the ultimate 'number go up' game.

As a governor to the king, explore barren islands and develop them into bustling metropolises to add to his growing kingdom.

By clicking.

Just hold M1 on various resources in the world to collect them, and send some back home to sell for gold. Gather enough resources and you can start building huts to spawn in units to mine for you. Keep the gold flowing in and you can use it to upgrade your clicking, how strong your units are, and how much cargo your ship can carry.

When you have enough gold, you upgrade the land to a proper village, which unlocks industry and helps you expand the map. Build barrels to sell for a higher price, make lumber to build different buildings, and continue to upgrade your clicking and units and ship. Upgrade and upgrade until you've turned the place into a kingdom, or completely exhausted your possibilities. When that happens it's time to find the next island, but you can use the reputation you've earned to unlock new perks and equip artifacts so that each run is better than before. These perks and artifacts change runs considerably, either by unlocking new resources to gather, like fishing spots, or allowing you certain bonuses when you start a new island, like gold or units.

There's an unexpected rhythmic nature to growing the kingdom: when all of your units are diligently working away, the sound effects coalesce into a truly pleasant and hypnotic melody, interrupted only by the sweet sounds of my ship announcing its return with mountains of delicious gold for my upgrades. I can leave my units to gather and craft by themselves, but there's something powerful about doing it myself. It makes me feel like I'm the hand of God, swooping in to show them all how it's done. This is my kingdom (as an elected official, I suppose), and I have a vested interest in helping it succeed.

Clicky Islands is a big mix of everything that makes my brain absolutely light up. Clicker mechanics, city-building, resource management, and on top of it all, meta-progression. My lizard brain was utterly delighted by the demo, and I can't wait to lose hours to the full game.

For fans of...

Rusty's Retirement, Loop Hero, Cookie Clicker

Thanks so much for reading! The fab team at Six One Indie are hosting their Demo Days Steam event from July 31 to August 7. They spotlight a bunch of indie developers and have new demos to download and play for the event, so if you're signed up to LFG, I think it's something you'd definitely dig.

I'll be doing a roundup of some of my favorites from the event in an upcoming newsletter, but make sure to go check it out in the meantime!