Games › Incremental › Incremental + Capitalism
Should I ship a Capitalist Incremental game?
Incremental + Capitalism
Of 204 developers who shipped a Capitalist 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.. 297 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×4.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 95% on the market; 297 games are announced against 159 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,611) |
| Top 5% | $364k (exactly $363,625) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 204 |
| Released games | 372 |
| Announced | 297 |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 210% 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.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Capitalism
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Incremental; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Simulation, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 62,920 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 73 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 297 games are announced against 159 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Touhou Mystia's Izakaya | older | $5.99 | 29,517 98% | 886k | $5.3M (exactly $5,304,205) | 二色幽紫蝶, Re零同人社 |
| | Scritchy Scratchy | $6.99 | 15,245 94% | 457k | $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) | Lunch Money Games | |
| | Startup Company | older | $12.99 | 5,853 81% | 176k | $2.3M (exactly $2,280,914) | Hovgaard Games |
| | Bills Must Be Paid | $6.99 | 9,928 96% | 298k | $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) | Rike Games | |
| | Chillquarium | older | $5.99 | 7,780 92% | 233k | $1.4M (exactly $1,398,066) | Ben Reber |
| | Tiny Pasture | $5.99 | 7,055 92% | 212k | $1.3M (exactly $1,267,784) | CaveLiquid | |
| | Keep on Mining! | $4.99 | 8,300 93% | 249k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) | EagleEye Games | |
| | Digseum | $2.99 | 8,033 97% | 241k | $721k (exactly $720,560) | Rat Monthly | |
| | Gamblers Table | $6.99 | 2,955 74% | 89k | $620k (exactly $619,664) | greenpixels, Bossforge | |
| | Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator | older | $19.99 | 827 92% | 25k | $496k (exactly $495,952) | Strange Scaffold |
| | Astro Prospector | $4.99 | 3,223 91% | 97k | $482k (exactly $482,483) | Incrementalist | |
| | Click the Button | $3.99 | 3,849 93% | 115k | $461k (exactly $460,725) | LoopCap | |
| | Chef Knight | $5.99 | 2,433 94% | 73k | $437k (exactly $437,210) | Clover Bite | |
| | Keep on Mining! - Worlds | $6.99 | 1,899 80% | 57k | $398k (exactly $398,220) | EagleEye Games |
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.