Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Action game?

Action + Incremental

Of 291 developers who shipped an Incremental Action game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 444 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $73k, ×118 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 444 games are announced against 197 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 444 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 291
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.3k → $1.2k → $386 → $628 → $240 → $449 (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 291
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $538 (exactly $538)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,144)
Top 5% $74k (exactly $73,814)
Developers, 2 yr 291
Released games 792
Announced 444
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 140% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Arcade, Simulation
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 40,506 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $540, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $73k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 122 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 444 games are announced against 197 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Book of Demons 2018 · $6.0M Shelldiver 2025 · $2.5M Bills Must Be Paid 2026 · $2.1M Insaniquarium Deluxe 2006 · $958k Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator 2021 · $496k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Book of Demons older $24.99 8,010 91% 240k $6.0M (exactly $6,005,097) Thing Trunk
Shelldiver $4.99 16,806 98% 504k $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) Gagonfe
Bills Must Be Paid $6.99 9,928 96% 298k $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) Rike Games
Insaniquarium Deluxe older $4.99 6,398 96% 192k $958k (exactly $957,781) PopCap Games, Inc.
Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator older $19.99 827 92% 25k $496k (exactly $495,952) Strange Scaffold
Chef Knight $5.99 2,433 94% 73k $437k (exactly $437,210) Clover Bite
Rock Bottom $7.99 1,747 94% 52k $419k (exactly $418,756) Logan Games
Galactic Mining Corp older $12.99 868 84% 26k $338k (exactly $338,260) Windybeard
Time Warpers older $19.99 493 82% 15k $296k (exactly $295,652) Proton Studio Inc
Project P.I.T.T. $9.99 961 78% 29k $288k (exactly $288,012) Froke
RATSHAKER™ $2.99 3,011 92% 90k $270k (exactly $270,087) Sunscorched Studios
Talented $5.99 1,475 91% 44k $265k (exactly $265,058) TurtleFox Games
Timber Rush $4.99 1,490 84% 45k $223k (exactly $223,053) Allerton Apps
Maktala: Slime Lootfest $4.99 1,345 79% 40k $201k (exactly $201,346) Samharia Studios
Scarlet Skips $4.99 1,310 78% 39k $196k (exactly $196,107) Yerk Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.