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Idle activity

Video game concept

After spending a set amount of time doing absolutely nothing, the character starts doing something to "pass the time".

24
games
13
platforms

Alternate name: Idle animation

Android Nim (TRS-80)
Android Nim
TRS 1978
Sonic & Knuckles Collection (Windows)
Sonic & Knuckles Collection
WIN 1999
Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (Game Gear)
Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
GG 1991-03-21
METRO 2033 (Xbox 360)
METRO 2033
X360 2010-03-16
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (Neo Geo Pocket Color)
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
NGPC 1999-12-04
Sonic & Knuckles (Mega Drive)
Sonic & Knuckles
GEN 1994-10-18
METRO 2033 (Windows)
METRO 2033
WIN 2010-03-16
The Lion King (Mega Drive)
The Lion King
GEN 1994-03
Disney's Kim Possible: What's the Switch? (PlayStation 2)
Disney's Kim Possible: What's the Switch?
PS2 2006-10-19
Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive)
Sonic the Hedgehog
GEN 1991-06-23
Fatman: The Caped Consumer (Amiga AGA)
Fatman: The Caped Consumer
AGA 1994
The Book of Unwritten Tales (Windows)
The Book of Unwritten Tales
WIN 2009-04-02
In some instances this introduces breaking of the 4th wall where the character tries to get the player's attention, possibly under the assumption that the player forgot the game.

Usually has absolutely no impact on gameplay with the character snapping back to normal activities when the player resumes control regardless of what the character was doing.

Popular tags

halflife lifesimulation platformer sonic traditional

Games by year

78808284868890929496980002040608101214 41230

The first Idle activity video game was released in 1978.

Sega and Deep Silver published most of these games.

Related site

Related trope at TV Tropes (Idle Animation)

Platforms

Windows 6
Mega Drive 5
Linux 2
X360 2
BeOS 1
PS2 1
Amiga AGA 1
Mac OS X 1
SNES 1
Game Gear 1
Neo Geo Pocket Color 1
TRS-80 1
GBA 1

Most common companies

Sega6
Deep Silver3