Games › Idler › Idler + Aliens
Should I ship an Alien Idler?
Idler + Aliens
Of 28 developers who shipped an Alien Idler 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.. 40 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $480. Revenue is up 205% on the market; 40 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $480 (exactly $480) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,166) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) |
| Top 5% | $30k (exactly $29,777) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 40 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 205% on the market, supply 265% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Idler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Resource Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $5.99 or above
- Art
- 9 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $5.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 1,239 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Idler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashFair
- + DrivingFair
- + LootFair
- + FPSFair
- + Turn-Based CombatFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + SwordplayFair
Comparable games
Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite 2025 · $125k 
Lifeform Zero 2024 · $114k 
Lazy Galaxy 2 2022 · $40k 
We Need More Humans! 2026 · $30k 
Femdemic - An Idle World Feminization Game 2023 · $29k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite | $5.99 | 698 83% | 21k | $125k (exactly $125,431) | RyanJakob | |
| | Lifeform Zero | older | $7.99 | 476 82% | 14k | $114k (exactly $114,097) | Sins of Succubus |
| | Lazy Galaxy 2 | older | $7.99 | 167 77% | 5.0k | $40k (exactly $40,030) | Coldwild Games |
| | We Need More Humans! | $6.99 | 142 72% | 4.3k | $30k (exactly $29,777) | Seafront Games | |
| | Femdemic - An Idle World Feminization Game | older | $14.99 | 64 53% | 1.9k | $29k (exactly $28,781) | Rel.Pink |
 | Prepare Uranus: Exploring Black Holes for Adults | · EA older | $7.99 | 97 62% | 2.9k | $23k (exactly $23,251) | Alienguy |
 | Fallen Seeds | older | $6.99 | 83 87% | 2.5k | $17k (exactly $17,405) | KPD |
 | USA 2020 | older | $1.89 | 244 78% | 7.3k | $14k (exactly $13,835) | GAMES FOR HUMANS |
 | Sporbs | $4.99 | 92 78% | 2.8k | $14k (exactly $13,772) | Who Nose Studios | |
 | outpost4 | $3.99 | 94 72% | 2.8k | $11k (exactly $11,252) | BananaDogGames | |
 | Terraforming Titans | $5.00 | 58 94% | 1.7k | $8.7k (exactly $8,700) | terraforming.titans | |
 | Idle Stellar | $4.99 | 45 60% | 1.4k | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) | Noody Games | |
 | Aeons of Rebirth | $4.99 | 42 66% | 1.3k | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) | Short Scale | |
 | IDLE: Intergalactic Defense League Exterminators | $5.99 | 34 64% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | PolyB Games | |
 | Galactic Simulator 3 | $6.99 | 21 100% | 630 | $4.4k (exactly $4,404) | PcZ Games | |
 | Fungal Colony Sim 2 | $7.99 | 13 61% | 390 | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) | Skylor Beck |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.