An idle game for iPhone that earns while you are away

If you are looking for idle games for iPhone, Star-Spangled Tycoon is a free one on the App Store. It is an idle tycoon: you tap to earn your first dollars, then your businesses keep earning on their own. You can close the app, go about your day and come back to find your offline earnings waiting. Each purchase makes the next one easier to afford, so the loop of buying, waiting and upgrading carries you from one milestone to the next.

The theme is a parody of American politics. Instead of running a company, you are a candidate trying to win an election, and the businesses carry patriotic joke names. The full game has 5 worlds and 50 businesses, and each world adds a mechanic on top of the basic loop. You can upgrade every business and give it a manager. When you hold an election you reset your progress in exchange for a lasting bonus, so later runs move faster.

Idle games on a phone live or die on how they treat your time and your wallet. The iPhone and iPad app is free to download, and its in-app purchases are optional. Everything in the game can also be earned by playing. There are no banner or full-screen ads. Watching a short rewarded video is optional and gives a bonus, and you can skip it. Progress is saved on your device and also uses iCloud sync, which helps if you change phones.

There is more to do than the core loop. You will meet a Cabinet of cartoon politicians, collect achievements and follow a rotating calendar of 31 limited events. Game Center leaderboards and achievements are included on iPhone and iPad. The game is also available in English and Spanish. If you would rather try it on a laptop first, there is a browser version at the play page, but the app is the main way to play.

An idle game suits short check-ins, not long sessions. Open it on the bus or in a queue, collect what your businesses earned, make a choice and put the phone away. The first ten minutes can feel slow, and the decisions get more interesting as the numbers grow. If you want fast action, this kind of game will not be for you. If you like to plan a little and wait a little, it is worth a try, and it costs nothing to find out.