Games › Choices Matter › Choices Matter + Incremental
Should I ship a Choices Matter Incremental game?
Choices Matter + Incremental
Of 220 developers who shipped a Choices Matter 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.. 274 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $660, ×1.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $54k, ×115 the market median. Revenue is up 105% on the market; 274 games are announced against 131 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $660 (exactly $660) |
| Top 25% | $3.9k (exactly $3,892) |
| Top 5% | $55k (exactly $54,675) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 220 |
| Released games | 508 |
| Announced | 274 |
| 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 105% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Choices Matter, Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Visual Novel, Idler
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 20,561 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 109 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 274 games are announced against 131 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + SportsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Board GameFair
- + RacingFair
- + ChessFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + RomePoor odds
- + World War IPoor odds
Comparable games
Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator 2025 · $2.0M 
Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate 2025 · $1.4M 
How Many Dudes? 2026 · $1.3M 
Sex, Secrets & Used Tech 2026 · $658k 
That's not my Neighbor 2025 · $403k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator | $12.99 | 5,191 92% | 156k | $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) | Aluba Van+ | |
| | Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate | $14.00 | 3,275 95% | 98k | $1.4M (exactly $1,375,500) | Xso | |
| | How Many Dudes? | $14.99 | 2,948 89% | 88k | $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) | Butterscotch Shenanigans | |
| | Sex, Secrets & Used Tech | $16.99 | 1,291 85% | 39k | $658k (exactly $658,023) | WorkNite Games, 78Games | |
| | That's not my Neighbor | $2.99 | 4,498 88% | 135k | $403k (exactly $403,471) | Nachosama Games | |
 | Midnight Paradise | $17.99 | 658 88% | 20k | $355k (exactly $355,123) | Lewdlab | |
 | JudgeSim | older | $6.99 | 1,376 84% | 41k | $289k (exactly $288,547) | DelusionArt Studio |
 | Growing Things Up - Season 1 | $12.99 | 707 91% | 21k | $276k (exactly $275,518) | King, BLANQ | |
 | All Hail the Orb | $6.99 | 1,291 93% | 39k | $271k (exactly $270,723) | LeGingerDev | |
 | Final Profit: A Shop RPG | older | $14.99 | 520 95% | 16k | $234k (exactly $233,844) | Brent Arnold |
 | Carpet Cleaning Simulator | $6.99 | 508 87% | 15k | $107k (exactly $106,528) | daimaGAME | |
 | Giant Waifu Wash Simulator 💦 | $14.99 | 194 65% | 5.8k | $87k (exactly $87,242) | Lewd Star |
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.