Clickolding

Clickolding is a 2024 adventure game for Windows, developed and published by Strange Scaffold and released on July 16. Its gameplay revolves around clicking a four-digit tally counter to its maximum. The entire game takes place in a single motel room, where the player can move and interact with a few objects. A masked figure called the Clickold issues orders—like standing in specific spots—and the player cannot click the counter until they obey.

The story starts with the protagonist alone in a motel room with the Clickold, who gives them a tally counter. He orders them to click it from zero to 9,999, promising $14,000 for a medical procedure afterward. The Clickold stops them at odd intervals, giving arbitrary commands in suggestive language. He explains he has owned the counter for years but can no longer click it as he wishes, and that the money is hidden under the bed. As the count nears its limit, he reveals he has a wife and two children, keeping his obsession secret. At 9,700, he pulls a gun and begs the protagonist to reset the counter. Once it passes 9,999, he thanks them and shoots himself. During the credits, a jazz band plays a song about the apocalypse in a restaurant. After the credits, the protagonist is alone with the body. The Clickold’s voice instructs them to keep clicking. A painting of a blind man being healed glows and spins. At 1,000 clicks, the protagonist is transported to a white void the Clickold described dreaming about. There, a monochrome man with a tally over his head shows the total clicks since the game started. He expresses disappointment in the Clickold’s suicide, revealing he has “captured the attention” of others before, who all forgot meeting him. The Clickold, however, remembered the dream and became obsessed, ruining his life. The man says the protagonist will leave and forget, but “the one who clicks” (the player) will not. The player can continue clicking indefinitely in either the void or the motel room.

Developed by Strange Scaffold (creators of *El Paso, Elsewhere*), *Clickolding* is among the first games funded by Outersloth, an indie label from Innersloth. Director Xalavier Nelson Jr.