Egyptian Idle: How to Balance Theme and Progression in Incremental Games

February 11, 2025

Introduction

Tired of cookie-cutter idle games? Building a pyramid empire in ancient Egypt while balancing the scales of Ma’at… sounds like fun, right? In this article, we’ll show you how to overcome the challenges of blending a rich theme with the inherently simple incremental genre, using Wayline tools to efficiently create a compelling and addictive game loop. We’ll focus on designing a resource management system rooted in Egyptian concepts, efficient art asset strategies, and monetization approaches tailored to this unique hybrid.

The Allure of Ancient Egypt (and Why It Works for Incrementals)

The Ancient Egyptian setting offers a wealth of visual and narrative inspiration. Think majestic pyramids, powerful pharaohs, and a pantheon of fascinating gods. This provides a significant advantage over generic fantasy settings, which are over-saturated in the incremental genre. For indie developers especially, a unique and visually striking theme can be a powerful tool for attracting players. This rich backdrop also lends itself naturally to incremental gameplay mechanics. Building a civilization, managing resources, and ascending to godhood all align perfectly with the core concepts of resource management games.

Prototyping Your Empire with Strafekit

Rapid prototyping is crucial for incremental games because the core gameplay loop relies on constant iteration and refinement. You need to quickly test different progression curves, resource ratios, and upgrade costs to find the “sweet spot” that keeps players engaged. With Strafekit, you can bypass the time-consuming process of creating original assets and focus on perfecting the gameplay loop. The key here is to rapidly mock up core incremental mechanics: resource gathering, building, upgrades, and prestige.

Here are some Strafekit assets that can help you kickstart your Ancient Egyptian incremental game. We have listed them with the most thematically appropriate assets first:

Setting the Scene: Create an immersive desert environment with the Desert Terrain - Sand Storm and Dune Environment.
Pyramid Construction: Use the Level Design Modular Starter Pack as modular building blocks to assemble your pyramids, allowing for rapid iteration on pyramid design and scale.
Resource Gathering: Use the Low Poly Nature Bundle and re-imagine those assets as wheat fields or mines to quickly test resource generation mechanics.

Let’s explore how to kitbash a simple pyramid using the Level Design Modular Starter Pack:

Import the pack into your Unity project.
Use the various block assets (walls, floors, etc.) to construct the basic pyramid shape.
Resize and reshape the blocks to create the desired pyramid slope and height.
Apply a sandstone texture from Stylized Materials to give the pyramid an authentic look. To further enhance the Egyptian feel, add hieroglyphic decals using a 2D texture from Abstract FX Texture Pack. Then use Pixelize to make them fit the pixel art theme, if desired.

This approach allows you to quickly visualize and test different pyramid designs without spending hours on custom modeling.

The "Ma’at System": Resource Management with a Twist

Instead of traditional resources like gold or lumber, consider incorporating the principles of Ma’at, the ancient Egyptian concept of balance and order. You can translate this into a resource management system where players must balance different aspects of their civilization to achieve prosperity.

Think of it as the “Ma’at System,” tracking the harmony of key principles:

Ma’at (Truth/Balance): Overall stability of the empire, influencing resource production and public order.
Ba (Personality/Soul): Social influence and prestige, unlocking technologies and improving trade.
Ka (Life Force): Size and efficiency of the workforce, dictating how many structures can be active.
Ren (Name/Reputation): Fame and legacy, providing passive bonuses to building times or upgrades.
Ib (Heart/Will): Happiness and productivity of the population, unlocking production boosts and special events.

Here’s a simple representation of how the Ma’at System might function:

Ma’at influences resource production. Low Ma’at (below 30%) reduces resource output by 15%. Players can increase Ma’at by constructing temples (+5 Ma’at), enacting laws (+10 Ma’at), or performing rituals (+2 Ma’at per minute). Ba is affected by trade agreements. Fewer trade routes result in lower Ba. Players can improve Ba by investing in social technologies, establishing trade routes, or constructing monuments. Ka determines the size of the workforce and is increased by building houses. Ren, or reputation, improves building times and can be increased by constructing monuments or completing milestones. Ib, the heart/will, affects worker productivity and requires you to keep your population happy with monuments and food.

An imbalance in the Ma’at System could trigger events that affect gameplay:

Low ‘Ma’at’ could trigger unexpected Nile floods, damaging farms and reducing resource production by 15%. The player could restore it by repairing the damage and appeasing the gods through offerings (spending in-game currency).
Low ‘Ib’ (Heart/Will) could lead to a 10% reduction in worker productivity and a chance of random work stoppages. To remedy this, the player could institute a festival (temporary boost, costs resources) or improve housing conditions (permanent upgrade, costs significant resources).
Low ‘Ba’ could result in reduced trade revenue, decreasing gold income by 20%. The player can recover trade by sending out envoys (costs resources, time-based return) or constructing trade depots (permanent improvement).

The gameplay loop for dealing with these events involves recognizing the problem (low stat), identifying the cause (event trigger), selecting a solution (offering, festival, envoy), and managing the resources needed to implement the solution. Successful resolution restores balance and prevents further negative consequences.

This adds a compelling layer of challenge and depth to the incremental gameplay.

Visual Design on a Budget (Pixel Art + Pixelize)

The visual design needs to support both the theme and the core gameplay, but incremental games often prioritize function over form. How do you make an Egyptian-themed game look good without an enormous art budget?

While Strafekit offers a wide array of assets, Pixelize offers a straightforward solution by automatically converting images into pixel art, creating a cohesive retro aesthetic for your game. You can use Pixelize to convert existing images (even photographs) into pixel art textures and sprites, saving significant time and resources. This can be applied to any of the 2D textures available in Strafekit and gives the developer the option of setting the color palettes to more accurately represent the Egyptian theme.

Why Pixel Art?

Affordable: Creating pixel art is significantly cheaper and faster than high-resolution 3D models or detailed 2D illustrations.
Scalable: Pixel art assets are small in file size, making them ideal for mobile games and web-based incremental games.
Stylistic Appeal: Pixel art has a nostalgic charm that resonates with many players, especially in the incremental genre.

Strafekit for UI Overlays:

Even with a pixel art style, you can still use Strafekit for UI elements. Consider using simpler 2D assets like Healer Spell Icons or Unique & Unusual Gemstones and re-coloring or repurposing them for UI elements. Create pixel art versions of these gemstones with Pixelize to use for in-game currency icons.

Monetization that Matters: Themed IAP and Rewarded Ads

Monetization in incremental games needs to feel organic and rewarding, not intrusive. With an Ancient Egyptian theme, you have opportunities to integrate monetization directly into the gameplay, carefully balancing IAP with non-intrusive ad integration:

Appease the Gods (Rewarded Ads): Frame this as appeasing the gods, and offer players temporary bonuses by watching rewarded video ads. Benefits include increased resource production (Watch a video to receive the blessing of Ra, doubling your solar energy production for 60 seconds) or reduced construction times (Thoth speeding up building). To prevent player frustration, limit ad frequency to once every 5-10 minutes and ensure the rewards are significant enough to justify the ad view.
Divine Favor (IAP): Allow players to purchase “divine favor” with premium currency. This could be used to speed up construction (“Purchase ‘Anubis’s Blessing’ to instantly complete the next pyramid level”), prevent negative events (like floods or worker strikes), or unlock exclusive upgrades. Ensure IAP options provide a clear value proposition and do not create a “pay-to-win” scenario.
Themed Currency Packs (IAP): Offer currency packs with names like “Pharaoh’s Hoard” ($4.99 for 5,000 gems), “Anubis’s Blessing” ($9.99 for 12,000 gems), and “Ra’s Radiance” ($19.99 for 25,000 gems) to enhance the immersion. Balance the pricing of currency packs to ensure they align with the benefits they provide, encouraging players to make repeat purchases.

Before launch, use Forecast and Signals to estimate revenue and refine your monetization strategy. For example, if Signals predicts 5,000 wishlists, setting the base ‘Pharaoh’s Hoard’ IAP price at $4.99 could generate $24,950 in initial revenue. Use Forecast to model the impact of different ad frequencies on player retention and revenue, determining the optimal balance between monetization and player engagement.

Streamlining Development with Nextframe

Wayline's Nextframe suite offers several tools to accelerate the development process for your Ancient Egyptian-themed incremental game:

Blueprint: Use Blueprint to quickly generate a detailed Game Design Document, saving valuable time on pre-production. Define your core concepts, such as “resource management,” “pyramid construction,” and “Ma’at system balancing,” then let Blueprint generate a structured GDD. Focus on the “Mechanics” and “Progression” components to detail the core incremental loops of your game.
Symphony: Use Symphony to generate custom game music inspired by traditional Egyptian instruments, adding depth to the game’s atmosphere. Select the “Ancient” or “Ethnic” genre and experiment with instrument combinations like Oud, Ney flute, and various percussion instruments. Try prompts like “Mysterious Egyptian temple music” or “Processional music for a Pharaoh” to generate evocative soundtracks.
Copilot: Use Copilot for game development advice. Copilot can offer insights and guidance on game mechanics, design, or technical challenges, helping developers make more informed decisions quickly. Use Copilot to refine your game mechanics. Ask: “How can I balance resource production in my incremental game to prevent player burnout?” or "What are some effective monetization strategies for hyper-casual games that avoid pay-to-win?".
Transform and Enhance: Use Transform to convert existing assets into the desired format for your game engine, optimizing asset sizes and ensuring compatibility across different platforms. Use Enhance to improve the resolution and quality of lower-resolution assets, particularly useful if you decide to upscale pixel art assets for higher-resolution displays. Both of these will ensure asset compatibility across different platforms.

Conclusion

The “Ancient Egyptian Incremental Game” concept offers a compelling blend of engaging gameplay and a captivating theme. By balancing resource management with ancient Egyptian principles, implementing an engaging gameplay loop, using efficient visual design techniques like pixel art, and leveraging Wayline tools, developers can unlock a unique and addictive gaming experience. Don’t be afraid to experiment and push the boundaries of the genre. The possibilities are as vast as the Egyptian desert!

Ready to rule the sands? Start brainstorming your unique themes for incremental games and share your ideas and innovative Ma’at System designs with the world. Think of themes that allow you to naturally incorporate resource management, a compelling visual style, and integrated monetization strategies. Be on the lookout for future articles that delve deeper into topics like advanced monetization strategies for themed incremental games and balancing the complexities of the Ma’at System.