cow-clicker en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
Coined by Ian Bogost in response to FarmVille winning an award for "Best New Social/Online Game" at the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards. The win caused Bogost, a critic of the freemium model used by Zynga, to be struck with the thought: "Games like FarmVille are cow clickers. You click on a cow, and that's all you do." He subsequently developed Cow Clicker, an intentionally simplistic parody game, which itself became a surprise viral hit.
Meanings
-
(derogatory) A video game that requires the player to perform repetitive tasks at certain intervals.
The plan was to offer a much deeper experience than what Farmville and rest of the cow-clickers ever could.
2015, Juho Kuorikoski, Finnish Video Games: A History and Catalog, page 235:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| cow-clickers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
wikipedia: Zynga · wikipedia: Cow Clicker · wikipedia: FarmVille · wikipedia: Game Developers Choice Awards · wikipedia: Ian Bogost