CLICKOLDING began with a thrift-store tally counter passed around a hotel lobby during the final night of the 2024 Game Developers Conference. What started as a playful click-speed contest became a game about clicking while a masked stranger watches. Strange Scaffold developed the idea into a short, single-player narrative game, released in July 2024. Its premise is deliberately unnerving; whether its repetition deepens that unease or becomes monotonous is where reviewers disagree.
What is CLICKOLDING?
Released on Steam on July 16, 2024, CLICKOLDING is a single-player PC game developed by Strange Scaffold and published by Strange Scaffold and Outersloth. Steam describes it as “a dark incremental narrative game about thumbing a tally counter to satisfy the distressing masked man sitting in the corner of your hotel room.” In the store’s words, “The man in the corner of your hotel room wants you to click something. He wants to watch you click it.”
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The central action is simple: use a detailed 3D tally counter as the masked figure watches. Steam presents the game as a one-sitting story and a surreal encounter with the Original Clickold, with music by composer RJ Lake. It is built around the tension of that situation rather than a broad set of conventional action systems.
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Content note: Steam warns that the game contains mature themes and imagery, including suggestive language and depiction of suicide. That is the listing’s stated notice; players who need more detail should consult the game’s store page before playing.
#1 Best Overall
How did the game begin?
A clicker at the GDC gathering
In a July 19, 2024 oral history for WIRED, participants recalled that the idea emerged at a late-night gathering during the final evening of GDC 2024 in San Francisco. Developers associated with Strange Scaffold, Innersloth, and Aggro Crab were decompressing in a hotel lobby. Someone from Aggro Crab had brought a thrift-shop tally counter, a small object that became the focus of the group’s attention.
The attendees passed it around and began timing one-minute click-speed runs. Aggro Crab studio head Nick Kaman recalled, “We were doing click speed runs. So we would set a phone timer to one minute and see how fast everyone could click in that one minute. That was really fun. We were just all very engrossed by the clicker.”
From satisfying object to uncomfortable premise
The counter’s tactile appeal gradually took on a stranger meaning: instead of competing to click quickly, what if someone had to keep clicking while another person watched? Strange Scaffold studio head Xalavier Nelson Jr. recalled, “We got increasingly obsessed with [this] tally counter and realized just how neurodivergent this group was in the process.” He also described it as “just a deeply satisfying object.”
Nelson began writing and contacted team members while the group was still together. WIRED’s account describes an idea that started as a joke and became a Strange Scaffold project, developed in collaboration with Outersloth. The other developers named in the story were present for the original conversation; that does not mean they all worked on the finished game.
Why does CLICKOLDING feel disturbing?
The game makes an ordinary action feel charged by placing it under a stranger’s gaze. A tally counter usually records something harmless; here, clicking is tied to the masked man’s demand and to the player’s uncertainty about what the encounter means. The minimal setup leaves room for the player to sit with the discomfort rather than relying on a complicated plot explanation.
That restraint is part of the design’s appeal and its risk. Steam reproduces a Guardian line describing the game this way: “It’s rare for games to give us that much space to freak ourselves out.” But a spare, repetitive action can also feel underdeveloped if a player expects the narrative to expand or the mechanics to change substantially.
Rank #4
Is CLICKOLDING unsettling or just repetitive?
Reviews do not settle on one answer. Their disagreement is largely about whether the slow, repeated clicking creates atmosphere and interpretive space, or instead becomes monotonous and leaves the story short of its potential.
- Noisy Pixel, reviewing the game on July 23, 2024, praised its experimental premise and unsettling motel-room atmosphere, while noting its short duration and repetitive gameplay.
- The Jimquisition, on July 24, 2024, described a quiet game with an unsettling undertone. It saw the straightforward interactions and repeated clicking as effective for establishing tone and subject, but also noted moments of monotony.
- Destructoid, on July 17, 2024, argued that the narrative did not develop its ideas enough, calling it unfocused and superficial. The review still found value in the experience and suggested it could be watched.
The review aggregates point to different kinds of reception, not a single verdict. Steam showed 81% positive among 1,669 all-time user reviews when accessed on October 4, 2026. Its 85% positive recent-review figure at that time was based on only 14 reviews, so it is a particularly small, changeable snapshot. Metacritic listed a PC Metascore of 70 based on four critic reviews, too small a critic sample to stand in for all reviewers.
Quick Recap
Best Value
What should you know before playing?
- Platform and players: the cited Steam listing identifies a PC release and single-player play. It lists English interface and subtitles.
- Minimum PC requirements: Steam’s listing gives 64-bit Windows 10, a quad-core Intel or AMD 2.5 GHz processor or better, 8 GB RAM, a DirectX 11- or 12-compatible graphics card, and 2 GB of storage. Store requirements can change, so check the listing for current specifications.
- Physical counter: a handheld tally counter is the real-world analogue at the heart of the premise, but it is not required to play. The cited sources establish a digital Steam release, not an official physical edition or branded counter merchandise.
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