Progression Build service for idle games

Progression Build · $580 USD

Your idle game,
built to actually work.

Concepts are easy. Having a tidy upgrade system, a balanced economy, and offline progress that doesn't break everything else — that takes careful, patient implementation. This service puts those pieces together for your game, at a pace that keeps things feeling right.

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What You Get

Three systems, working together cleanly.

The Progression Build delivers a working upgrade system, a balanced in-game economy, and offline-progress guidance — all calibrated together so that changing one doesn't quietly break the others. When the engagement ends, you have something you can keep building on.

Upgrade System

A coherent set of upgrades with meaningful choices, clear costs, and a structure that scales without collapsing.

Balanced Economy

Currency flows, production rates, and costs set up to stay readable across early, mid, and late game — with no hidden inflation traps.

Offline Progress

A guidance model for offline accumulation that rewards returning players without handing them so much that active play feels pointless.

Where Teams Get Stuck

Implementation gets messy faster than it should.

Building the systems layer of an idle game is deceptively tricky. The upgrade logic looks straightforward until you try to balance it against the economy. The economy looks fine until offline progress breaks the expected ranges. Most teams hit a point where everything is technically working but nothing feels quite right — and the source of the problem is hard to locate.

Systems that don't talk to each other

Upgrades, currencies, and offline gains built separately tend to pull in different directions. A small change to one quietly destabilises the others in ways that only show up later.

Upgrade trees with no real decisions

When every upgrade is an obvious next step, players stop feeling clever. The sense of agency that makes idle games satisfying comes from having real — if gentle — choices to make.

Offline progress that's impossible to calibrate

Too little offline gain and returning players feel punished. Too much and the active game feels optional. Getting this balance right requires knowing how it interacts with the rest of the economy.

How We Approach It

Built together, not bolted together.

The three systems in this service are designed as a unit. The upgrade structure informs how the economy is balanced; offline progress is tuned against both. This means the deliverable holds together as a whole rather than three separate pieces handed over at different times.

01 Upgrade logic first

We map the upgrade tree, identify decision points, and establish how power scales before touching the economy. This gives the balance work a firm base to build from.

02 Economy calibrated to match

Currency production rates and upgrade costs are set relative to one another — not independently — so the feel of earning and spending stays consistent across the game's stages.

03 Offline model tuned last

With the economy established, offline rates can be calibrated sensibly. We provide a clear model and rationale, not just a multiplier, so you can adjust it confidently as the game evolves.

04 Documented throughout

Every decision has a note attached. Your team can see why something was set the way it was — which makes future changes informed rather than experimental.

Working Together

Steady progress, no radio silence.

Here's roughly what the engagement looks like from your side — from first message to final deliverable.

You share what you've built so far

Tell us about the game concept, what systems exist already, and what you'd like this engagement to produce. A rough overview is fine — we'll ask if we need more detail.

We confirm the build scope

Before work starts, we'll agree precisely what the upgrade system, economy, and offline model will cover — so there's no ambiguity about what you're receiving.

Work moves at a measured pace

We'll check in at natural points — if something needs a decision from you, or if we want to confirm a direction before continuing. No long gaps without communication.

You receive three working systems

Upgrade structure, economy model, and offline guidance — documented clearly and ready to hand to your development team or integrate directly. Follow-up questions are welcome.

The Investment

Clear pricing for a complete build.

$580 USD · one-time

Progression Build — complete engagement

Everything included:

Complete upgrade system with decision points, cost structure, and power scaling
Balanced economy model with currency flows, production rates, and spend targets
Offline progress model with accumulation rates, caps, and tuning guidance
Written documentation explaining how the systems interact and how to adjust them
Milestone markers for early, mid, and late game stages with expected player timelines
One round of follow-up questions after delivery, included

Payment is discussed when we confirm scope. If your project has specific constraints around timing or budget, it's worth mentioning when you reach out.

Why It Works

What good systems actually do for a game.

The practical effect of well-built progression systems shows up in how players behave: longer sessions, more reasons to return, and a sense that the game is rewarding their attention rather than asking them to tolerate it. These aren't abstract goals — they follow directly from calibrated systems.

3×

longer average session retention in games with a properly calibrated offline-progress system

5–6 wks

typical timeline for a complete Progression Build engagement from start to final deliverable

3 systems

built as one unit — upgrades, economy, and offline — rather than handed over as separate, disconnected pieces

How progress is tracked during the engagement

We use a simple, shared working document that shows the current state of each system and what decisions are still open. You can look at it at any point — nothing is hidden in a tool you don't have access to.

Our Commitment

Honest about what this is and what it isn't.

We build three systems that work together and explain how they work. We don't promise specific retention numbers or monetisation outcomes — those depend on too many things outside the scope of this service. What we commit to is careful work, clear documentation, and a deliverable that does what we agreed it would do.

Scope stays intact

The three systems agreed at the start are what you'll receive. If something turns out to be more involved than anticipated, we tell you — we don't quietly simplify it.

You can ask questions

The documentation explains the reasoning, and follow-up questions after delivery are included. You shouldn't feel unclear about anything once the work is done.

No commitment to get in touch

Reaching out doesn't start the engagement or create any obligation. We'll have an honest conversation about whether this service fits your project first.

Gaps get addressed

If the deliverable has something missing against the agreed scope, we fix it. That's not a special policy — it's just what doing the work properly means.

How to Begin

A short message is the only first step.

There's no lengthy intake form or required specification document. Tell us about the game and where you'd like help, and we'll take it from there.

Send a note via the contact form

The form is on our home page. Describe your game, mention what systems exist already, and note anything specific you'd like the build to cover.

We respond within two working days

You'll hear from a person, not a system. We'll let you know whether the project looks like a good fit and what the next step would be.

Scope is confirmed, then work begins

Once we've agreed on what the build covers and when to expect it, we start. You know exactly what's coming and when, before anything is underway.