Games › Incremental › Incremental + Animals
Should I ship an Animal Incremental game?
Incremental + Animals
Of 28 developers who shipped an Animal Incremental 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.. 92 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×4.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $44k, ×93 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 92 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.3k (exactly $2,269) |
| Top 25% | $8.0k (exactly $7,969) |
| Top 5% | $44k (exactly $44,386) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 42 |
| Announced | 92 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 down 50% on the market, supply 765% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Animals
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Incremental; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Collectathon, Creature Collector
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 2,394 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 92 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Incremental with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + OtomeStrong odds
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + MiningFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + LootFair
- + SupernaturalFair
Comparable games
Chillquarium 2023 · $1.4M 
Sort Them Ducks 2026 · $263k 
Plantera 2: Golden Acorn 2023 · $178k 
Moose Miners 2024 · $155k 
Ever Seen A Cat? 3 2022 · $58k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Chillquarium | older | $5.99 | 7,780 92% | 233k | $1.4M (exactly $1,398,066) | Ben Reber |
| | Sort Them Ducks | $5.99 | 1,461 92% | 44k | $263k (exactly $262,542) | Mr.Duck | |
| | Plantera 2: Golden Acorn | older | $4.99 | 1,191 93% | 36k | $178k (exactly $178,293) | VaragtP |
| | Moose Miners | older | $9.99 | 518 69% | 16k | $155k (exactly $155,245) | Lingon Studios |
| | Ever Seen A Cat? 3 | older | $4.99 | 387 96% | 12k | $58k (exactly $57,934) | EverCats |
 | War Tortoise | older | $12.99 | 137 79% | 4.1k | $53k (exactly $53,389) | Foursaken Media |
 | Meow Palace: Forbidden City | · EA | $5.99 | 247 90% | 7.4k | $44k (exactly $44,386) | 宫喵家族 |
 | Mewseum: Masterpieces | $6.99 | 133 98% | 4.0k | $28k (exactly $27,890) | Climbing Goat Games | |
 | Little Aviary | $3.99 | 231 86% | 6.9k | $28k (exactly $27,651) | atomco | |
 | Push Push | $4.99 | 111 97% | 3.3k | $17k (exactly $16,617) | 1ceAgain | |
 | Heritage | $9.99 | 44 72% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $13,187) | Big Three Games | |
 | Cozy Mining | $6.99 | 38 76% | 1.1k | $8.0k (exactly $7,969) | tatsumaki games | |
 | Dino Market | $4.99 | 51 94% | 1.5k | $7.6k (exactly $7,635) | Fuz Games | |
 | Plump! Dumb Frog Pond | $7.99 | 30 96% | 900 | $7.2k (exactly $7,191) | FHNBHJ | |
 | Moose Diver | $4.99 | 48 83% | 1.4k | $7.2k (exactly $7,186) | Lingon Studios |
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.