cow-clicker

noun

A video game that requires the player to perform repetitive tasks at certain intervals.

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Meanings

nouncow-clicker (plural cow-clickers)

plural cow-clickers

  1. derogatoryvideo gamesA video game that requires the player to perform repetitive tasks at certain intervals.

    The plan was to offer a much deeper experience than what Farmville and rest of the cow-clickers ever could.

    2015, Juho Kuorikoski, Finnish Video Games: A History and Catalog, page 235

Origin

Coined by Ian Bogost in response to FarmVille winning an award for "Best New Social/Online Game" at the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards. The win caused Bogost, a critic of the freemium model used by Zynga, to be struck with the thought: "Games like FarmVille are cow clickers. You click on a cow, and that's all you do." He subsequently developed Cow Clicker, an intentionally simplistic parody game, which itself became a surprise viral hit.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

cow-clicker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cow-clicker

MLA

“cow-clicker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cow-clicker. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cow-clicker,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cow-clicker.

Source: cow-clicker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.