Do I ship it?

Games › Destruction › Destruction + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler Destruction game?

Destruction + Idler

Of 34 developers who shipped an Idler Destruction 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.. 69 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×399 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 69 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 69 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $64k → $26k → $179 (still earning) → $11k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,346)
Top 25% $38k (exactly $38,024)
Top 5% $251k (exactly $250,801)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 59
Announced 69
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 down 95% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Destruction, Idler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Strategy, Arcade
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 15,942 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 5 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M Bills Must Be Paid 2026 · $2.1M To The Core 2023 · $1.2M Fracture Field 2026 · $251k Trainatic 2025 · $196k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WorldBox - God Simulator · EA older $19.99 51,071 95% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,627,279) Maxim Karpenko
Bills Must Be Paid $6.99 9,928 96% 298k $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) Rike Games
To The Core older $7.99 5,087 92% 153k $1.2M (exactly $1,219,354) SomethingExtra
Fracture Field $6.99 1,196 75% 36k $251k (exactly $250,801) Type Ten
Trainatic $5.99 1,089 89% 33k $196k (exactly $195,693) Ryan Forrester
You Know The Drill $4.99 1,022 92% 31k $153k (exactly $152,993) ludokai
Smash Hit Museum $6.99 507 85% 15k $106k (exactly $106,318) InIt Games
Max Manos $5.99 507 92% 15k $91k (exactly $91,108) Max Manos
Rock Crusher $6.99 352 84% 11k $74k (exactly $73,814) Mini Fun Games
Dice People $2.99 719 90% 22k $64k (exactly $64,494) Mateusk2m, Manodeix
Siegeturtle $4.99 254 86% 7.6k $38k (exactly $38,024) YYZ Studio
Far Mining $2.99 368 95% 11k $33k (exactly $33,010) LostVolBytes

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