Games › Economy › Economy + Idler
Should I ship an Idler Economy game?
Economy + Idler
Of 441 developers who shipped an Idler Economy 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.. 589 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 589 games are announced against 337 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,365) |
| Top 5% | $257k (exactly $256,673) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 441 |
| Released games | 703 |
| Announced | 589 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 85% on the market, supply 205% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Economy, Idler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Simulation, Incremental
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 79,628 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 146 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 589 games are announced against 337 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + ScienceFair
- + MiningFair
- + LootFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + God GameFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
Comparable games
Cookie Clicker 2021 · $13M 
Cast n Chill 2025 · $3.8M 
Farm Together 2 2025 · $3.5M 
Scritchy Scratchy 2026 · $3.2M 
Rusty's Retirement 2024 · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cookie Clicker | older | $4.99 | 87,916 96% | 2.6M | $13M (exactly $13,161,025) | Orteil, DashNet |
| | Cast n Chill | $14.99 | 8,383 94% | 251k | $3.8M (exactly $3,769,835) | Wombat Brawler | |
| | Farm Together 2 | $25.99 | 4,456 93% | 134k | $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) | Milkstone Studios | |
| | Scritchy Scratchy | $6.99 | 15,245 94% | 457k | $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) | Lunch Money Games | |
| | Rusty's Retirement | older | $6.99 | 13,902 96% | 417k | $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) | Mister Morris Games |
 | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
 | Shelldiver | $4.99 | 16,806 98% | 504k | $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) | Gagonfe | |
 | (the) Gnorp Apologue | older | $6.99 | 9,613 94% | 288k | $2.0M (exactly $2,015,846) | Myco |
 | Chillquarium | older | $5.99 | 7,780 92% | 233k | $1.4M (exactly $1,398,066) | Ben Reber |
 | Farm Manager 2021 | older | $19.99 | 2,296 79% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,376,911) | Cleversan Games |
 | Keep on Mining! | $4.99 | 8,300 93% | 249k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) | EagleEye Games | |
 | Fortune Mill | $7.99 | 3,712 81% | 111k | $890k (exactly $889,766) | Lavaflame2 | |
 | Tower Wizard | $2.99 | 8,787 96% | 264k | $788k (exactly $788,194) | Barribob | |
 | Microcivilization | $17.99 | 1,437 78% | 43k | $776k (exactly $775,549) | Ondrej Homola | |
 | Tiny Aquarium: Social Fishkeeping | $7.49 | 3,386 95% | 102k | $761k (exactly $760,834) | Lunheim Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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