Games › Colony Sim › Colony Sim + Incremental
Should I ship an Incremental Colony Sim?
Colony Sim + Incremental
Of 58 developers who shipped an Incremental Colony Sim 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.. 105 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×283 the market median. Revenue is up 120% on the market; 105 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,134) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,689) |
| Top 5% | $178k (exactly $177,618) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 58 |
| Released games | 102 |
| Announced | 105 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 120% on the market, supply 195% 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.
- Colony Sim
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Colony Sim, Incremental; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 6,327 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Colony Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + 4XPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | All Hail the Orb | $6.99 | 1,291 93% | 39k | $271k (exactly $270,723) | LeGingerDev | |
| | IDLE BOSS RUSH | $9.99 | 820 66% | 25k | $246k (exactly $245,754) | Irid Games | |
| | Factory Town Idle | older | $4.99 | 1,232 90% | 37k | $184k (exactly $184,430) | Erik Asmussen |
| | Hole Is Mine | $7.99 | 741 90% | 22k | $178k (exactly $177,618) | Incrementalist | |
| | Moose Miners | older | $9.99 | 518 69% | 16k | $155k (exactly $155,245) | Lingon Studios |
| | MR FARMBOY | $9.99 | 480 85% | 14k | $144k (exactly $143,856) | mrdboy | |
| | FEED THE QUEEN | $7.99 | 577 69% | 17k | $138k (exactly $138,307) | Quiétude | |
| | Code: Terraform | · EA | $14.99 | 252 85% | 7.6k | $113k (exactly $113,324) | AppsMafia |
| | Fill Up The Hole | $2.99 | 1,165 90% | 35k | $105k (exactly $104,501) | Fluffy Lotus | |
| | Bunny Park | older | $4.99 | 692 90% | 21k | $104k (exactly $103,592) | Cozy Bee Games |
| | Idle Colony | $5.99 | 551 82% | 17k | $99k (exactly $99,015) | Faith G. | |
| | Spiritstead | $9.99 | 152 83% | 4.6k | $46k (exactly $45,554) | Turbo Dog Games | |
| | refarm | $3.99 | 298 87% | 8.9k | $36k (exactly $35,671) | otterhands |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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