When comparing A Dark Room vs Cookie Clicker, the Slant community recommends A Dark Room for most people. In the question“What are the best browser based idle games?” A Dark Room is ranked 4th while Cookie Clicker is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose A Dark Room is:
The controls for the game never changes from the original outset, click on the corresponding button for the action one wants to perform. While more and more buttons will be added, the core concept does not change.
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Pros
Pro Easy to understand controls
The controls for the game never changes from the original outset, click on the corresponding button for the action one wants to perform. While more and more buttons will be added, the core concept does not change.
Pro Simplistic gameplay grows the longer one plays
Starting out there is only one button to pick from, to stoke ones fire, but slowly the game progresses and allows for more actions such a gathering wood and then building things with that wood. The deeper the player goes into the game the more there will be to do witch keeps the player intrigued as to what will be available next.
Pro You never know what is next
Each upgrade costs more and more cookies to purchase and each hidden upgrade is not made available until you reach the amount of cookies it costs, so no matter if you need 100 cookies to purchase a new Grandma or a trillion to purchase some other tool you will always be left feeling like you just need to reach that next milestone.
Pro Addictive "gameplay"
While after 15 clicks the game can play itself, the constant goal of improving how many cookies one can click is pretty addictive in that there is always something to be improved upon.
Pro Game still runs when the browser is closed
The browser does not need to be opened for your bakery to keep earning cookies and sugar lumps, a recent form of currency added to the game. The cookie earnings will be reduced, but using the heavenly chip system, a currency earned when ascending the bakery, can be used to increase how many cookies are earned and how long the increased boost lasts for.
Cons
Con Lack of explanation
There is no tutorial, there is no explanation of what is happening in the game. While controls are easy to figure out one does not ever really know why they are doing the things they choose to do in the game, which may be too vague for some users.
Con Some may see the game as not a game
Incremental or as some know them "idle" games are not always received well by those looking for something with a bit more skill needed, basically the game will play itself at some point and from that point forward which can be pretty boring. So for those that are not interacting with the game that often (no clicking, no checking in often) it can be less of an interactive title than what some are looking for.
Con Some achievements take a long time to earn
Some of the most recent achievements added into the game involve earning and spending sugar lumps. Even with the upgrades meant to speed up the earning of sugar lumps, it will still take a long time to earn the achievements involving harvesting and spending them.
Con Boring
This is boring, you don't do anything what's the point.