Idle Area 51

About

Idle Area 51 is a single player casual management game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by PlaySide Studios and was released on February 5, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Become the best secret agent and run your own secret facility in this idle game.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

62%

Audience ScoreBased on 618 reviews

graphics6 positive mentions

monetization81 negative mentions

The game has cute graphics and enjoyable interactions between soldiers and aliens.
It's a fun time killer, especially during idle moments at work.
The game has potential and offers a unique theme centered around aliens and Area 51.

Progression is extremely slow, requiring excessive ad watching or spending money to advance.
The game is riddled with bugs, including frequent resets of gems and money, making it frustrating to play.
There is a lack of content beyond the initial levels, leading to a repetitive and boring experience.

monetization
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
1%
92%
The monetization strategy of the game heavily relies on ads, leading to a frustrating experience for many players who report frequent crashes and issues with rewards not registering after watching ads. While some users are willing to watch ads for in-game benefits, the overwhelming number of ads and the high costs for removing them or gaining bonuses have been criticized as excessive and greedy. Overall, players feel that the game prioritizes ad revenue over enjoyable gameplay, making progress slow and tedious without spending money.
- “Made a few in-app purchases.”
- “I bought the no ads purchase and the one that gives 300 diamonds.”
- “It's great no ads; you need to watch them yourself. In 20 minutes, you can get to a million cash. The game is really great; you should try it.”
- “Progressing slowly but fast enough to get to the next stage requires watching a high number of ads.”
- “It's okay, it's a fun game but 1 star because it's basically ad-supported, meaning playing the game without ads will take you years to get anything done, also because the developer is asking for way too much money.”
- “This game would be better if the ads weren't broken half of the time, plus I don't get the rewards and it crashes my game.”
story
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
The story aspect of the game has received mixed to negative feedback, with players finding it unengaging and repetitive. Many users expressed frustration over mission updates and the frequent resetting of in-game currency, which detracted from their overall experience. Overall, the narrative fails to captivate players, leading to dissatisfaction with the game's progression and rewards system.
- “Builds on an established model with a new story and graphics that are acceptable.”
- “Just started playing doing the missions getting gems.....wondering why I can't get any new quasar.”
- “Alright game but always resets my gems so there is no point doing missions.”
- “Upgrades are way too expensive, rewards are way too low, and to progress in this game it takes a long time or a lot of ad watching. The story is meh, and I will say there are other mediocre games that offer better starting gameplay than what this game offers.”
- “You earn gems as rewards for quests, but they disappear shortly after earning them, so you never have more than 50.”
- “Any gems I get from doing missions keep on getting reset to 50. Every 1-2 minutes, the game resets them to 50, likely a scam to make you pay for packs of gems.”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
18%
27%
The graphics in the game are generally praised for their cute and charming style, featuring adorable interactions between soldiers and aliens that enhance the overall experience. While many players appreciate the visuals and find them fun, some express a desire for improved realism and better performance, particularly during gameplay. Overall, the graphics are a standout aspect, contributing positively to the game's appeal despite some technical limitations.
- “The graphics are cute and the interactions between the soldiers and aliens are adorable.”
- “So far, not a single bug or crash. The game looks amazing, and there are tons of hidden cute interactions, like a small soldier on top of a mountain training like a karate kid, soldiers hiding to take a nap, and aliens doing alien stuff.”
- “I like the idea, and the graphics are fun.”
- “The 1 star is for the little cartoon graphics.”
- “A terribly slow game, low graphics and low amount of things to do to keep you interested, money collected and money from watching ads doesn't always add up properly.”
- “Builds on an established model with a new story and graphics that are acceptable.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous users reporting significant bugs that hinder gameplay, such as erratic earnings calculations, frequent resets of in-game currency, and issues with ads and sound functions. Overall, players find the game to be enjoyable but plagued by stability problems that make it frustrating to play.
- “Could be a super fun game, but the calculations of earnings while idle are so buggy that it's almost unplayable.”
- “Game has glitches though, keeps resetting my money to zero and my gems back to 50...seems random.”
- “Pretty nice idle game, but damn, not stable and buggy as hell with missions :/”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The gameplay is described as clean and addictive, but ultimately shallow and overly simplistic, lacking innovation compared to other games in the genre. While some players find it enjoyable, issues with a broken money mechanic and a lack of challenge detract from the overall experience.
- “Without ads, getting there is a few hours of gameplay.”
- “Gameplay is good.”
- “Clean, addictive gameplay but way too easy and brainless.”
- “Gameplay is very shallow; there's nothing you haven't seen in other variants.”
- “The broken money mechanic makes it frustrating—completing objectives earns you gems, but it keeps resetting back to 0. It's a shame because the concept is actually fun; it's just broken.”
- “Without ads, the gameplay only lasts a few hours.”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews on the grinding aspect of the game are mixed; while some players find it simple and enjoyable, others criticize it for being tedious and slow, with issues like unexpected ad placements and significant downgrades in performance after grinding. Additionally, concerns about in-game currency loss and a perceived focus on monetization detract from the overall experience for many users.
- “After farming for the loading perk, the timer goes from 3 seconds to load to 43 seconds. Seems like a downgrade really; had to uninstall this troll game.”
- “Boring, slow, tedious. It puts ads in 'bonus' loot boxes without telling you that you'll need to watch an ad to open it.”
- “After the first 10 minutes, it gets boring. They're money-hungry and set the game up for profit; have fun grinding away if you don't pay.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with players enjoying its quality and thematic fit, particularly in the Area 51 setting. However, there are notable issues with sound controls, as some users report that the mute function does not work properly, leading to unexpected audio playback after viewing ads.
- “I love the music and the Area 51 background.”
- “It's not bad, but what's the point of utilizing the mute music and audio buttons if the sounds keep happening anyway?”
- “Update: I found a bug that turns the sound (not music) back on after viewing an ad despite my setting.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers feel that the humor in the game falls flat, as it fails to creatively utilize its UFO and Area 51 setting for comedic effect, resulting in a generic experience that could easily be set in any other environment. While some find the game enjoyable and amusing, the lack of originality in its humor is a notable drawback.
- “It's been fun and funny; it's cool.”
- “Funny.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game requires some optimization, indicating that players may experience performance issues or inefficiencies that need to be addressed for an improved gaming experience.
- “Some optimization is required for this game.”