Do I ship it?

GamesIncrementalIncremental + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian Incremental game?

Incremental + Dystopian

Of 52 developers who shipped a Dystopian 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.. 57 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 57 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 57 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Incremental + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 52
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $3.6k → $2.7k → $1.1k → $897 (still earning) → $3.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Incremental + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 52
Bottom 30% $238 (exactly $238)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $14,388)
Top 5% $337k (exactly $337,462)
Developers, 2 yr 52
Released games 85
Announced 57
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 200% on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
Dystopian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Incremental; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Retro, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 10,764 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $900, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $330k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Incremental with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds15 devs · median $11k · 12 announced
  2. + OtomeStrong odds12 devs · median $7.0k · 11 announced
  3. + Martial ArtsFair13 devs · median $6.1k · 15 announced
  4. + FarmingFair21 devs · median $5.9k · 23 announced
  5. + Dynamic NarrationFair19 devs · median $4.0k · 14 announced
  6. + MiningFair141 devs · median $3.9k · 207 announced
  7. + Souls-likeFair9 devs · median $3.9k · 10 announced
  8. + Arena ShooterFair15 devs · median $3.5k · 20 announced
  9. + Dating SimFair140 devs · median $3.1k · 136 announced
  10. + UndergroundFair27 devs · median $3.0k · 35 announced
  11. + LootFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  12. + SupernaturalFair33 devs · median $2.4k · 35 announced

All 188 pairs on the Incremental page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

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+
FACEMINER $7.99 1,517 90% 46k $364k (exactly $363,625) Wristwork
Q-UP $9.99 1,126 93% 34k $337k (exactly $337,462) Everybody House Games
JudgeSim older $6.99 1,376 84% 41k $289k (exactly $288,547) DelusionArt Studio
Execute $5.99 679 91% 20k $122k (exactly $122,016) Payne Robinson
Fill Up The Hole $2.99 1,165 90% 35k $105k (exactly $104,501) Fluffy Lotus
Click To Continue $4.99 440 92% 13k $66k (exactly $65,868) Basolute
UncleOffice:uncle Dating Simulator $15.99 92 61% 2.8k $44k (exactly $44,132) GameUncle
Femdemic - An Idle World Feminization Game older $14.99 64 53% 1.9k $29k (exactly $28,781) Rel.Pink
海蓝星之梦 $3.99 220 98% 6.6k $26k (exactly $26,334) PygmaGame
UNHUMAN $3.99 161 73% 4.8k $19k (exactly $19,272) Kinda Lowkey Games
BastionOS $3.30 173 97% 5.2k $17k (exactly $17,127) Feral Paw

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