Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Incremental game?

Building + Incremental

Of 179 developers who shipped a Building 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.. 286 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 $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $330k, ×532 the market median. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 286 games are announced against 126 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 150% on the market, 286 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 179
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.9k → $4.0k → $1.3k → $1.7k → $1.5k → $3.6k → $2.9k (still earning) → $1.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 179
Bottom 30% $628 (exactly $628)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,090)
Top 25% $20k (exactly $19,587)
Top 5% $334k (exactly $333,866)
Developers, 2 yr 179
Released games 377
Announced 286
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 150% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Building
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
Building, Incremental; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 39,166 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $330k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 7 in 10 of the 61 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 286 games are announced against 126 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cookie Clicker 2021 · $13M Startup Company 2020 · $2.3M (the) Gnorp Apologue 2023 · $2.0M Outpath 2023 · $1.3M Tiny Pasture 2025 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cookie Clicker older $4.99 87,916 96% 2.6M $13M (exactly $13,161,025) Orteil, DashNet
Startup Company older $12.99 5,853 81% 176k $2.3M (exactly $2,280,914) Hovgaard Games
(the) Gnorp Apologue older $6.99 9,613 94% 288k $2.0M (exactly $2,015,846) Myco
Outpath older $14.99 2,898 92% 87k $1.3M (exactly $1,303,231) David Moralejo Sánchez
Tiny Pasture $5.99 7,055 92% 212k $1.3M (exactly $1,267,784) CaveLiquid
Tower Wizard $2.99 8,787 96% 264k $788k (exactly $788,194) Barribob
Microcivilization $17.99 1,437 78% 43k $776k (exactly $775,549) Ondrej Homola
Garden Galaxy older $9.99 2,472 97% 74k $741k (exactly $740,858) Anneka Tran
Digseum $2.99 8,033 97% 241k $721k (exactly $720,560) Rat Monthly
Crusaders Quest : Hero Town $6.99 2,564 76% 77k $538k (exactly $537,671) CQ LABS
Hearth and Hamlet $7.99 2,050 79% 62k $491k (exactly $491,385) Phorust Studios
Ropuka's Idle Island $3.99 4,048 95% 121k $485k (exactly $484,546) Moczan, Little Chmura, Begoña Pereda
Click Mage $4.99 2,529 91% 76k $379k (exactly $378,591) Tiny Crow Games
Dwarf Eats Mountain $9.99 1,114 80% 33k $334k (exactly $333,866) Green Wizard
Forage Wizard $6.99 1,549 87% 46k $325k (exactly $324,825) Lost Maxim

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