AdVenture Capitalist

AdVenture Capitalist is one of the games that set the template for the business idle genre. Hyper Hippo released it on Steam in 2015, and it's free to play on Steam, iOS and Android. You open with one lemonade stand. Clicking it earns cash, cash buys more stands and then bigger businesses, and each business pays out on its own timer. The first real turning point is hiring managers. Once a business has a manager it runs without you, and money keeps piling up while the game is closed. Later you reset your progress to attract angel investors, who give a permanent boost to everything on the next run. That reset loop is where most of the long-term play sits, and once Earth is sorted the game adds more businesses on the Moon and Mars. The humor is broad and silly, a parody of get-rich hype. The game even pitches itself as something to run while you wait in a queue for another game. It suits new idle players, or anyone who wants a game that needs very little attention.