Videogame designer Ian Bogost meant Cow Clicker. To be a satire with a short shelf life. Instead, the hit game enslaved him for more than a. Quick Fact: The first clicker game, Cow Clicker, was created by Ian Bogost to demonstrate how boring would “free games” be. But, ironically, he gave birth to one of the most addictive genre of games. In this article, I am going to give you 10 most popular and free clicker games that you can play online.

Cow Clicker is an incrementalsocial network game on Facebook developed by video game researcherIan Bogost. The game serves as a deconstructive satire of social games. The goal of the game is to earn 'clicks' by clicking on a sprite of a cow every six hours. The addition of friends' cows to the player's pasture allows the user to also receive 'clicks' whenever the player's cow is clicked. A premium currency known as 'Mooney' allows the user to purchase different cow designs and skip the six-hour interval between clicks.

In the wake of a controversial speech by Zynga's president at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2010, Bogost developed Cow Clicker for a presentation at a New York University seminar on social gaming in July 2010. The game was created to demonstrate what Bogost felt were the most commonly abused mechanics of social games, such as the promotion of social interaction and monetization rather than the artistic aspects of the medium. As the game unexpectedly began to grow in popularity, Bogost also used Cow Clicker to parody other recent gaming trends, such as gamification, educationalapps, and alternate reality games.

Some critics praised Cow Clicker for its dissection of the common mechanics of social network games and viewed it as a commentary on how social games affect people.

Gameplay[edit]

The player is initially given a pasture with nine slots and a single plain cow, which the player may click once every six hours. Each time the cow is clicked, a point also known as a 'click' is awarded; if the player adds friends' cows to their pasture, they also receive clicks added to their scores when the player clicks their own cow. As in other Facebook games, players are encouraged to post announcements to their news feed whenever they click their cow. A virtual currency known as 'Mooney' can be bought with Facebook Credits; it can be used to purchase special 'premium' cow designs, and the ability to skip the six-hour time limit that must be waited before the cow can be clicked again.^[1][2]

History[edit]

Creation and development[edit]

At the 2010 Game Developers Conference, Zynga's game FarmVille was awarded the 'Best New Social/Online Game' at its Game Developers Choice Awards. Ian Bogost (who was also in attendance) was critical of Zynga's success, as he felt that its business model was focused on convincing users to pay money to progress further in their 'freemium' games rather than treating gaming as an artistic experience. He also believed Zynga's vice president Bill Mooney was trying to attack 'artistic' gaming during his acceptance speech for the award when he personally invited independent game developers to join his company.^[3] After the conference, Bogost coined the term 'cow clickers' to describe games such as FarmVille which only involve performing tasks at certain intervals, since in these games, 'you click on a cow, and that’s all you do.' Bogost compared the players of Zynga's games to the rats in B. F. Skinner's operant conditioning experiment, often receiving variable reinforcement rather than regular rewards. As one of the most vocal critics of Zynga's practices and business model, Bogost made further appearances at various events and panels to discuss his views on social gaming.^[3]

In July 2010, Bogost was scheduled to make an appearance at a New York University seminar, 'Social Games On Trial', to discuss the controversial aspects of social network gaming. To clearly demonstrate what he felt were the most commonly abused mechanics of these games, Bogost quickly developed a Facebook game entitled Cow Clicker. The game was designed to be a satire of what Bogost personally believed were the only points of FarmVille: to encourage users to continue playing by inviting other users into the game, and to provide incentives for those who purchase virtual goods.^[3] The bulk of the code was written in three days.^[4]

Cow Clicker is similar to the 2013 game Cookie Clicker by Julien Thiennot, which Ian Bogost describes as Cow Clicker's 'logical conclusion'.^[5]

Updates[edit]

Unexpectedly to Bogost, Cow Clicker became a viral phenomenon, amassing over 50,000 players by September 2010. In response to its sudden popularity, he committed to improving the game with new features. Updates to the game added awards for reaching certain milestones (such as the Golden Cowbell for 100,000 clicks), the ability to earn Mooney by clicking on other users' Cow Clicker news feed posts, and the chance to randomly gain or lose Mooney on every click. New cow designs were also introduced, such as an oil-coated cow to commemorate the BP oil spill, and the 'Stargrazer Cow', which was only a mirror image of the original cow that cost around $20's worth of Mooney.^[3][6]

Although continually disturbed by its popularity, Bogost also used Cow Clicker to parody other recent gaming and social networking trends; such as the addition of an API to allow websites to have their own clickable cows (in a process he dubbed 'Cowclickification'), the spin-off game Cow Clicker Blitz (co-developed with PopCap Games co-founder Jason Kapalka), 'My First Cow Clicker' for iOS (a parody of simplistic education apps; designed to 'train' children on cow clicking and add the resulting clicks to their parent's total), and a 'Cow Clicktivism' campaign where users could click on an emaciated cow to donate to Oxfam America—with a goal of donating an actual cow to a third world country. The cow, known as the 'Cowclicktivist Cow', could also be unlocked for the player's pasture with a $110 donation.^[1][3][6]

'Cowpocalypse' event and conclusion[edit]

In 2011, an alternate reality game known as the 'Cow ClickARG' was held, where a series of clues from the 'bovine gods' eventually revealed that a 'Cowpocalypse' would occur on July 21, 2011 (exactly one year since the original release of the game). From then on, every click made by players would deduct thirty seconds from a countdown clock leading to the Cowpocalypse. However, players could extend the countdown clock by paying to supplicate with Facebook Credits: paying 10 credits would extend the countdown by a single hour, while 4,000 would extend the countdown by an entire month.^[7] After $700 worth of extensions, the countdown clock expired on the evening of September 7, 2011. At this point, the game remained playable, but all the cows were replaced by blank spaces and said to have been raptured. Bogost intended the Cowpocalypse event to signal the 'end' of the game to players; when addressing a complaint by a fan who felt the game was no longer fun after the cow rapture, Bogost responded that 'it wasn't very fun before.'^[3][6][8]

Data collection[edit]

In 2018, Bogost wrote an article for The Atlantic discussing the collection of data by Facebook apps, with reference to Cow Clicker, following a scandal involving Cambridge Analytica's use of Facebook data. Bogost notes that Facebook apps appear to be part of the website itself, whereas they actually operate with almost no oversight. He claims that 'without even trying', Cow Clicker stored its users' Facebook ID and any networks (such as workplaces) that the user was a part of, and that this information is still stored on his private server. Bogost notes that he could have used this data for malicious purposes, criticising Facebook's 'move-fast-and-break-things attitude toward software development'.^[4]

Reception[edit]

Cow Clicker received critical attention soon after its release. One early commentator was Alexia Tsotsis of TechCrunch, who acknowledged the game's intent as a commentary on the impact of social network games. In an interview, Bogost foresaw the transformation of the internet into a 'compulsive virtual dystopia' through Zynga's use of social gaming.^[2][3]

Nick Yee of the Palo Alto Research Center compared the players of games which do not provide 'meaningful opportunities for achievement, social interaction, and challenge' to rats in a Skinner box. Accordingly, he compared Cow Clicker to being inside an 'incredibly clear Skinner box'—acknowledging how little effort the game took in order to keep users playing the game. Jason Tanz of Wired considered Cow Clicker as an example of the growth in the trend of gamification—where developers introduce elements influenced by games into their services without providing the normal 'experience' a game traditionally incorporates.^[3]

PopCap Games co-founder Jason Kapalka praised Cow Clicker for being the type of 'ironic, satirical, self-referential' game that Facebook's game ecosystem was lacking, as he felt there were too many commercially driven games on the social network. Playdom's Scott Jon Siegel criticized the game for not going far enough in its satire, and putting too many highlights on the 'absurd monetisation practices and meaningless clicking which social games are all too well known for.'^[1]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abc'Poking at Cow Clicker'. Edge. Archived from the original on August 4, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
2. ^ ^abTsotsis, Alexia (July 7, 2010). 'Why Clicking Cows Brings Us Closer Together'. TechCrunch. Archived from the original on September 22, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
3. ^ ^abcdefghTanz, Jason (December 20, 2011). 'The Curse of Cow Clicker'. Wired. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
4. ^ ^abBogost, Ian (March 22, 2018). 'My Cow Game Extracted Your Facebook Data'. The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
5. ^Bogost, Ian (2016). Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games. Hachette. ISBN9780465096503.
6. ^ ^abcAlexander, Leigh (October 3, 2011). 'The Life-Changing $20 Rightward-Facing Cow'. Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
7. ^'The Clickness Unto Death'. Ian Bogost. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
8. ^'Cow Clicker Founder: If You Can't Ruin It, Destroy It'. NPR. November 19, 2011. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.

Further reading[edit]

• Tyler, Tom (2015). 'Cows, clicks, ciphers, and satire]'. NECSUS: European Journal of Media Studies. 4 (1): 199–208. doi:10.5117/NECSUS2015.1.TYLE.

Tired of those boring farm games that are all the same? Come find out what happens when you merge ordinary cows and crazy mutations start taking place!Welcome to Cow Evolution - and trust us when we tell you its no simple farm game. Cow Evolution is a mutant maker, evolution simulator, idle clicker game! You get to play god and combine cows to evolve them, discovering the most curious, exotic and bizarre forms of cows to ever exist!Every type of cow will generate idle money, which you can use to ship new cows to your farm.

Combine two cows of the same type, and watch a crazy mutation take place. As you merge and combine, mutations will spread like a virus, and your cows will evolve into all types of crazy and funny monsters.How far does Cow Evolution go? We challenge you to find out!Your cows will get bigger, and you'll begin to merge and combine on a completely different scale.

Discover gigantic mutant cows, Cow Gods, and even crazier things that you've never seen in other idle clicker games! This idle clicker merge game takes place on various levels - from the farm, to continents, entire planets and even BEYOND.So grab your monster maker degree, put on your scientific evolution hat, and get ready to play the craziest simulation game ever made!Just be warned - this game is not about delicious cow milk and happy little plants!

Cow Evolution is an idle merge game about discovering how far your mutant evolution ambitions will take you. Get rich with each new genetic mutation, and take over the Universe with your funny and crazy cows!HOW TO PLAYCow Evolution is the idle clicker game that is easy cheesy!MERGE TO MOOTATE!. Combine similar cows to evolve them into new and more profitable creatures - each new combination is a new discovery!EVOLUTION WITHOUT LIMITS!. Four different stages of evolution, and even some secret stages! Take your cattle game aspirations to the next level by combining to make all sorts of mutants: monster cows, alpaca cows, alien cows and more! The mutations are so hilarious, you never know what the next discovery will be in this Idle Merge Game!DECORATE YOUR FAVORITE COWS. There's no end to the madness!

Not only will your cows earn you money, just like in Idle Games, but you can even dress them up in different hats and change their colors!THE BEST COW CLICKER. Click away at those Idle Bovine to make that money and invest in even more mutation experiments.BEST OF ALL?. No cows were harmed in the making of this cow clicker merging games.

In fact, the only ones complaining where the developers accustomed to the serenity of farm games, and couldn't handle this intense merge clicker idle games!So what are you waiting for? Whether you're looking for merge games, idle games, or clicker games, Cow Evolution has got what you need! You would never have thought that cow games or mutation games could be combined into one hilarious package. Well this is it!

Yet another smash hit by Tapps Games. Be sure to check it out! By purchasing this item, you are transacting with Google Payments and agreeing to the Google Payments.

AFinitDataCallback(key: 'ds:17', isError: false, hash: '24', data:functionreturn 'gp:AOqpTOFXmp3ycKt2N-eq7UY4vnRpZTCPbnLo3CNc6td5qTgc1Ton1MMqOb8JN56ilxaTv6ab9-cou4JdjDvQ','Laura Grabouski',null,2,null,null,null,'game is very fun! It is very simple, which makes it an ingenious game! I like how it is a cartoon and it is very colorful. The graphics are very good, and it is nice to look at with a wide range of colors.

It is always very exciting and intertaning to unlock new cows by merging (or evolving) others. I have one tiny complaint to make, and that is that there are too many ads. Please fix this, it will make a big difference. Other than that, Cow Evolution is a very fun and amusing game! ,119000000,0,null,null,'2','Laura Grabouski',null,null,2,null,null,null,'i got this bug (my phone is Realme 3 Pro) where when i started, it just gave me a single crate. No option buttons, no tutorials, and no menu buttons, nothing.

I'm stuck with a single baby cow for like 3 mins and there's just literally nothing i can do other than pressing the baby cow. I have played this in the past and i really missed playing it and hope that i could experience the same joy i had. Pls fix this.' ,707000000,0,null,null,'6','Crystalline',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Fisher',null,2,null,null,null,'recommend this game. Because when you open boxes then you can get other cows and then you just keep building up cows. This game is my favorite game ever. Its a merge game and its really cool i love it you should get it.'

,736000000,13,null,null,'3','Samantha Fisher',null,null,2,null,null,null,'kitten',null,2,null,null,null,'funny how fast you blow through the first 30% of the moopedia just because the game doesn't expect you to micromanage so hard. But all together, it's good',108000000,0,null,null,'4','cupcake kitten',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Zorzi',null,2,null,null,null,'changed my phone and tried to sync the progress with my FB account and it started all over.

Very disappointed.' ,394000000,0,null,null,'8','Rodrigues Zorzi',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Of Beans',null,2,null,null,null,'opened the app yesterday and all my progress was gone. It is a really addictive and fun game but when every achievement and cow I had made had all disappeared it really ruins the whole game',816000000,0,null,null,'0','Tin Of Beans',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Calfman',null,2,null,null,null,'game would be great if the screen wouldn't be totally glitched on my phone (Nokia 6.2). Please, fix this! There is only a part of the screen usable and the game is unplayable.' ,117000000,0,null,null,'4','Max Calfman',null,null,2,null,null,null,'cool game. Some funny puns sometimes.

I do think it could be a little more interesting if there where more planets. Overall great game!' ,992000000,0,null,null,'1','DirtyAtom',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Marrs',null,2,null,null,null,'love how much there is to this game. It's funny and cute too.

I really like that there is so many different things. It's amazing.' ,638000000,0,null,null,'0','Carolyn Marrs',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Thompson',null,2,null,null,null,'cute, and super simple. Perfect for wasting time, or relaxing.' ,856000000,1,null,null,'3','Michelle Thompson',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Martin',null,2,null,null,null,'be a great app if there weren't pop up ads every 10 seconds',762000000,0,null,null,'9','Kyle Martin',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Talbot',null,2,null,null,null,'are far too frequent and random to even start enjoying the game.'

Thanks for visiting The Crossword Solver.We've listed any clues from our database that match your search. Depraved synonyms in tamil. The synonyms have been arranged depending on the number of charachters so that they're easy to find.If a particular answer is generating a lot of interest on the site today, it may be highlighted in orange.If your word has any anagrams, they'll be listed too along with a definition for the word if we have one.We hope that you find the site useful.Regards, The Crossword Solver TeamIf you have a moment, please use the voting buttons (green and red arrows) near the top of the page to let us know if we're helping with this clue. There will also be a list of synonyms for your answer.

,61000000,0,null,null,'5','Charles Talbot',null,null,2,null,null,null,'the game but way to many Ads every click an Ad opens',590000000,0,null,null,'8','Adalgeir',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Howard',null,2,null,null,null,'far I have played it for an hour straight. The cows are super cute!

Edited to add a week later that this game is so addicting! ,850000000,0,null,null,'1','Rachel Howard',null,null,2,null,null,null,'cromer',null,2,null,null,null,'good time waster, ads are not obtrusive and don't hinder gameplay',117000000,0,null,null,'2','daniel cromer',null,null,2,null,null,null,'man',null,2,null,null,null,'very simple and easy to use.

A great distraction',580000000,0,null,null,'6','Hood man',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Price',null,2,null,null,null,'like it but it has to many ads and their placed inconveniently',11000000,0,null,null,'2','Sara Price',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Sheep',null,2,null,null,null,'cows are cute there's no ads and it's simple. Short tutorial +Cute cows u003dud83dudc4cud83cudfffpeng game',185000000,0,null,null,'3','Absent Sheep',null,null,2,null,null,null,'X',null,2,null,null,null,'syncing with Google play games account.

Please fix this',713000000,0,null,null,'6','Steamlazer X',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Hamilton',null,2,null,null,null,'game and I am amazed at how many cow's you can discoverud83dude42ud83dude42ud83dude42.' ,805000000,0,null,null,'8','Team Hamilton',null,null,2,null,null,null,'chan',null,2,null,null,null,'liked the game but is just a little bit borring but really good game I love playing',102000000,0,null,null,'5','Caroline chan',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Fatima',null,2,null,null,null,'is good and booaring at the same time i think is quite decent and kind a good emm if you are like my brother you play fornite,pubg and all that stuff this is not for you',982000000,0,null,null,'8','Anam Fatima',null,null,2,null,null,null,'ad every 30 secs.' ,707000000,0,null,null,'5','Zakill73',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Hartley',null,2,null,null,null,'handy game I was very emotional while playing my sister was also very upset while playing this game.

I think they should make a game about vegan cows and how hard it is for them as human cows. Great game have one of sharks which is also a good game. I liked the texture of the boxes',165000000,0,null,null,'2','Lilah Hartley',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Bluck',null,2,null,null,null,'game is awesome u open crates and get cows then merge them together too get better ones but they have to be the same as the other cow so Yeh it deserves a 4/2',736000000,0,null,null,'4','Alfie Bluck',null,null,2,null,null,null,'Dubz',null,2,null,null,null,'this little game. It's just mindless fun, so it's really nice when I'm anxious or bored, or just before I go to sleep.' ,256000000,0,null,null,'3','V Dubz',null,null,2,null,null,null,'https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/AOh14Gj9sD7Lx61Et1N7cVUnbXOuTLZI0qF6VrhyWY4Bg',true,null,2,null,null,null,'https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Yq7oyNIvAAkuc69fG51sbAQS4otJxbObbt3xdr8tXxXyUdq4tVGtfgeKuptveGdP1srxaHVrNPzOYcfaEQ','1.11',null,'vafgamesrealistic',2,'vafgamesgenredressupandfashion',2,'vafgameschallenging',2,'gp:AOqpTOGJPagV3CxcE9nkUdijKhqy7tJa5szHT4b-zCAsgIZPkJhtE4rheZTiUXMT0uopX-LxLTVke.