Stimulation Clicker
{{Short description|2025 video game}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox video game
| developer = Neal Agarwal
| platforms = Web
| released = January 6, 2025
| genre = Clicker
| modes = Single-player
| producer = Liz Ryan
| writer = Alex Alvarez
| artist = {{Ubl|Pixel Chop|Sketch Studio}}
| composer = {{Ubl|Austin Taylor|Jon Kaur}}
| image = Stimulation Clicker Game Icon.svg
}}
Stimulation Clicker is a 2025 clicker game created by Neal Agarwal. In the game, the player clicks a button to earn Stimulation Points, which they can spend on upgrades to gain more points. The game was released on his website, neal.fun, on January 6, 2025. Stimulation Clicker garnered a positive reception, with praise for its chaotic gameplay.
Gameplay
In Stimulation Clicker, the player starts with a button instructing players to click it.{{Cite web |last=Myers |first=Maddy |date=January 7, 2025 |title=Stimulation Clicker is pure internet hell mode |url=https://www.polygon.com/review/504701/stimulation-clicker-free-browser-game |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Polygon |archive-date=January 22, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122201156/https://www.polygon.com/review/504701/stimulation-clicker-free-browser-game |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Evans-Thirlwell |first=Edwin |date=January 8, 2025 |title=Stimulation Clicker is web 1.0 and web 3.0 having a fight inside one browser window |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/stimulation-clicker-is-web-10-and-web-30-having-a-fight-inside-one-browser-window |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Rock Paper Shotgun |archive-date=January 14, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114104642/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/stimulation-clicker-is-web-10-and-web-30-having-a-fight-inside-one-browser-window |url-status=live }} Each click earns them one Stimulation Point, and they may spend their points on upgrades to gain more points.{{Cite web |last=Sarkar |first=Arka |date=January 7, 2025 |title=How to play Stimulation Clicker, the newest game from Infinite Craft{{'s}} Neal.fun |url=https://www.destructoid.com/how-to-play-stimulation-clicker-the-newest-game-from-infinite-crafts-neal-fun/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Destructoid}} Themed around overstimulation, upgrades include a true crime podcast, gameplay footage of Subway Surfers, and DVD screensaver logos that move across the screen.{{Cite web |last=Holt |first=Kris |date=January 9, 2025 |title=Stimulation Clicker is a nightmarish free browser game powered by internet brainrot |url=https://www.engadget.com/gaming/stimulation-clicker-is-a-nightmarish-free-browser-game-powered-by-internet-brainrot-134537169.html |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Engadget |archive-date=January 15, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250115002351/https://www.engadget.com/gaming/stimulation-clicker-is-a-nightmarish-free-browser-game-powered-by-internet-brainrot-134537169.html |url-status=live }} Once the player purchases every upgrade, they unlock an end credits scene where they arrive at an ocean.{{Cite web |last=Benson |first=Madison |date=January 7, 2025 |title=Can you win Stimulation Clicker? |url=https://www.destructoid.com/can-you-win-stimulation-clicker/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Destructoid |archive-date=January 21, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121044719/https://www.destructoid.com/can-you-win-stimulation-clicker/ |url-status=live }} The player's progress cannot be saved.
Development
Developed by Neal Agarwal, the creator of The Password Game (2023), Draw a Perfect Circle (2023), and Infinite Craft (2024), Stimulation Clicker was released on January 6, 2025, for his website, neal.fun.{{Cite tweet |number=1876292777501131140 |user=nealagarwal |title=Stimulation Clicker, the worst webpage, is out now! |first=Neal |last=Agarwal |date=January 6, 2025 |access-date=January 20, 2025}} Agarwal first conceived of the idea during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, claiming he wanted to capture "the experience of being terminally online".{{cite news |last1=Press-Reynolds |first1=Kieran |title=With Clicks Into Oblivion, Frying Your Brain Is Fun |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/arts/stimulation-clicker.html |access-date=23 February 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=11 February 2025 |archive-date=February 12, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250212083204/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/arts/stimulation-clicker.html |url-status=live }}
The development took 4 months and was inspired by Cookie Clicker and Upgrade Complete!. It included hiring voice actors for an original 45 minute podcast, recording new lines from the original announcer of the Halo franchise, and including specially record segments from streamers and influencers.{{cite news |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Yair |author-link1=Yair Rosenberg |title=The Worst Page on the Internet |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/internet-browser-game-website/681461/ |access-date=23 February 2025 |work=The Atlantic |date=27 January 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 13, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250213231013/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/internet-browser-game-website/681461/ |url-status=live }}
Reception
Multiple reviewers found the game chaotic.{{Cite web |last=Kaur |first=Tessa |date=January 11, 2025 |title=Stimulation Clicker Is Cookie Clicker For The TikTok Generation |url=https://www.thegamer.com/stimulation-clicker-is-cookie-clicker-for-the-tiktok-generation/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=TheGamer |archive-date=January 24, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124114211/https://www.thegamer.com/stimulation-clicker-is-cookie-clicker-for-the-tiktok-generation/ |url-status=live }} Kris Holt of Engadget, likening it to Clickolding, described Stimulation Clicker as a "funny, bruising commentary" on how websites keep users engaged, while Maddy Myers of Polygon felt it was a "terrifying art project". Yair Rosenberg, of The Atlantic, thought the game was "a remarkable rendering of how digital life has gone off the rails." In PC Gamer, Jonathan Bolding opined that while not being a very deep commentary, it was "a useful one."{{cite news |last1=Bolding |first1=Jonathan |title=Stimulation Clicker distills a decade of internet brainrot into exposure therapy that makes you stupid—plus, it's free! |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/stimulation-clicker-distills-a-decade-of-internet-brainrot-into-exposure-therapy-that-makes-you-stupid-plus-its-free/ |access-date=23 February 2025 |work=PC Gamer |date=8 February 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210061124/https://www.pcgamer.com/games/stimulation-clicker-distills-a-decade-of-internet-brainrot-into-exposure-therapy-that-makes-you-stupid-plus-its-free/ |url-status=live }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- {{MobyGames|/235721/stimulation-clicker/}}