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Should I ship a Detective Incremental game?
Incremental + Detective
Of 62 developers who shipped a Detective 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.. 68 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $780, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $64k, ×136 the market median. Revenue is up 190% on the market; 68 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $779 (exactly $779) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
| Top 5% | $65k (exactly $64,735) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 174 |
| Announced | 68 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 190% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Detective
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Incremental; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Point & Click, Puzzle, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 7,191 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
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
Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator 2025 · $2.0M 
Chicken Police - Paint it RED! 2020 · $974k 
Polda 7 2022 · $268k 
Paper Bride 3 Unresolved Love 2022 · $262k 
Paper Bride 5 Two Lifetimes 2023 · $182k | 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+ | |
| | Chicken Police - Paint it RED! | older | $19.99 | 1,624 94% | 49k | $974k (exactly $973,913) | The Wild Gentlemen |
| | Polda 7 | older | $17.99 | 496 92% | 15k | $268k (exactly $267,691) | Zima software |
| | Paper Bride 3 Unresolved Love | older | $9.99 | 874 92% | 26k | $262k (exactly $261,938) | HeartBeat Plus |
| | Paper Bride 5 Two Lifetimes | older | $9.99 | 606 84% | 18k | $182k (exactly $181,618) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | Hymer 2000 | $4.99 | 1,031 89% | 31k | $154k (exactly $154,341) | doBell | |
 | Contract With The Devil | older | $14.99 | 243 71% | 7.3k | $109k (exactly $109,277) | AZ-Art Development Studio |
 | Malware | older | $2.99 | 1,141 87% | 34k | $102k (exactly $102,348) | Odd Games |
 | The House of Da Vinci VR | $24.99 | 126 93% | 3.8k | $94k (exactly $94,462) | Blue Brain Games | |
 | Detective Hayseed - The Cloning Madness | older | $14.99 | 147 97% | 4.4k | $66k (exactly $66,106) | Zima software |
 | 春泥 Soil of Rebirth | $9.99 | 216 73% | 6.5k | $65k (exactly $64,735) | 午夜说书人 | |
 | Snowed Under | 雪葬 | $7.99 | 194 60% | 5.8k | $47k (exactly $46,502) | Chilla's Art | |
 | Furry Adventure Club and the Holy Grail 🦁 | $6.99 | 161 93% | 4.8k | $34k (exactly $33,762) | Furry Dreams Lab | |
 | Desktop Detective | $4.99 | 144 88% | 4.3k | $22k (exactly $21,557) | Conradical Games | |
 | Gumshoe Detective Agency: The First Case | $9.99 | 56 73% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $16,783) | Birdy Interactive | |
 | NoseBound | $14.99 | 36 86% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | Quarantine Interactive | |
 | MAELSTROM LEGACY: The Tesla Mystery | $10.99 | 36 69% | 1.1k | $12k (exactly $11,869) | Wistfulware |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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