Melvor Idle

Imagine RuneScape, but you don’t have to cancel your weekend plans to reach level 99 in Fishing. That’s Melvor Idle in a nutshell, a deceptively simple idle RPG that somehow manages to turn clicking menus into one of the most satisfying long-term projects you’ll ever take on. It’s the kind of game you open for “just five minutes” and then find yourself still theorycrafting an hour later.

At first glance, Melvor seems almost absurdly simple: click a skill, watch numbers rise, repeat. But behind that casual exterior lies a web of interconnected systems that make every small decision feel meaningful. Chopping trees feeds into Fletching. Mining fuels Smithing. Cooking feeds your combat runs. Even Astrology and Agility, two skills many players love to hate, sneakily feed into powerful late-game builds if you stick with them. It’s like playing an Excel spreadsheet with loot tables, and I mean that as the highest compliment.

Where Melvor shines brightest is in its approachability. Whether you’re a RuneScape veteran who still remembers their first Cow Field massacre, or a total newcomer who wouldn’t know Lumbridge from Falador, there’s a comfortable on-ramp here. Standard Mode lets you AFK for hours while the game keeps grinding away, while Ancient Relic Mode flips the formula into something much more active, a dungeon-crawling gauntlet where defeating bosses levels up your skills and rewards you with powerful relics like +100% Summon Damage or -25% Crafting Intervals. It’s a brilliant twist that gives you the option to play actively or passively, depending on your mood.

The joy of Melvor is that no path is wrong, but every choice has consequences. Do you dump early hours into Fishing and Cooking for fast gold? Or push Woodcutting and Firemaking to unlock better crafting options? Maybe you dive headfirst into Thieving and Herblore to fuel your bank slot addiction. (And yes, you’ll want those extra bank slots.) It’s low-stakes planning with just enough min-max depth to keep even spreadsheet junkies hooked.

Of course, the real secret weapon? The wiki guides. If you aren’t glued to them after your first few hours, you will be soon. They’re practically a second game.

Whether you’re here for the zen, the strategy, or just to watch numbers go up while you work, Melvor Idle is dangerously good at keeping you coming back. One more log. One more fish. One more dungeon.