Games › CRPG › CRPG + Incremental
Should I ship an Incremental CRPG?
CRPG + Incremental
Of 32 developers who shipped an Incremental CRPG 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.. 27 more are announced.
Verdict: long shot, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, but 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×101 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 27 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $4.7k (exactly $4,664) |
| Top 5% | $151k (exactly $150,774) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 140% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- CRPG
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- CRPG, Incremental; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Visual Novel, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Emotional
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 2,770 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
CRPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + FMVPoor odds
- + Card BattlerPoor odds
- + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds
- + SpacePoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + DeckbuildingPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Immortal Family | older | $13.99 | 1,213 54% | 36k | $509k (exactly $509,096) | 一起来修仙工作室 |
| | Handyman Fantasy | $7.99 | 1,607 95% | 48k | $385k (exactly $385,198) | SupaShinKen Studio | |
| | Only You | $6.99 | 719 94% | 22k | $151k (exactly $150,774) | 忘雪社 | |
| | Wishful Journey:Love Across Time | older | $9.99 | 426 88% | 13k | $128k (exactly $127,672) | Hillhouse Holdings Limited |
| | Music Band Manager | older | $7.99 | 339 52% | 10k | $81k (exactly $81,258) | Hamsters Gaming |
| | 孟德大小姐与自爆少年THREE KINGDOM FANTASY | older | $7.99 | 307 66% | 9.2k | $74k (exactly $73,588) | 蓝铂工作室 |
| | 筮灵 SHILING | older | $7.99 | 227 71% | 6.8k | $54k (exactly $54,412) | WindField Games |
| | New ZhaoYun | older | $29.99 | 25 44% | 750 | $22k (exactly $22,492) | XBZYZ Game |
| | Whisper of Y'Ryando | $7.99 | 89 70% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | IndieCain, YuetXD | |
| | Betrayed | $14.99 | 45 82% | 1.4k | $20k (exactly $20,236) | Joraell, Darkmage, Dracula Belmont | |
| | My Wife | $1.99 | 143 94% | 4.3k | $8.5k (exactly $8,537) | Neko Game | |
| | 幻觉病理 | $5.99 | 36 75% | 1.1k | $6.5k (exactly $6,469) | 水仙肉桂 | |
| | 鸿运修仙传 | $5.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | 玉米工作室 | |
| | 电波奇缘~与时音相会的日子 | $2.99 | 52 96% | 1.6k | $4.7k (exactly $4,664) | 黎厘星游戏工作室 | |
| | Tail of Glory | $4.99 | 29 100% | 870 | $4.3k (exactly $4,341) | Lascalis | |
| | The Lands of Hyberian | $4.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | SkyWeb Technologies LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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