Games › Idler › Idler + Futuristic
Should I ship a Futuristic Idler?
Idler + Futuristic
Of 92 developers who shipped a Futuristic Idler 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.. 121 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 $420. Revenue is up 185% on the market; 121 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $4,039) |
| Top 5% | $26k (exactly $26,255) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 92 |
| Released games | 188 |
| Announced | 121 |
| 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 185% on the market, supply 190% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Idler
- effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
- Futuristic
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Idler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Minimalist
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 4,637 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 121 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Idler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashFair
- + DrivingFair
- + LootFair
- + FPSFair
- + Turn-Based CombatFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + SwordplayFair
Comparable games
Nodebuster 2024 · $1.2M 
Desktop Defender 2025 · $263k 
Widget Inc. 2024 · $114k 
FEED THE AI 2026 · $100k 
CYBRID 2021 · EA · $63k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Nodebuster | older | $2.99 | 13,852 97% | 416k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,524) | Goblobin |
| | Desktop Defender | $4.99 | 1,757 92% | 53k | $263k (exactly $263,023) | Conradical Games | |
| | Widget Inc. | $4.99 | 761 84% | 23k | $114k (exactly $113,922) | Leaping Turtle | |
| | FEED THE AI | $5.99 | 557 90% | 17k | $100k (exactly $100,093) | Weird Kid Games | |
| | CYBRID | · EA older | $14.99 | 139 89% | 4.2k | $63k (exactly $62,508) | Tom Reason |
 | Gachi Heroes | older | $0.99 | 1,708 93% | 51k | $51k (exactly $50,728) | GachiSoft |
 | LUST Company 👾 | $9.99 | 155 65% | 4.7k | $46k (exactly $46,454) | Taboo Tales 💘 | |
 | Astrodle | older | $5.99 | 226 88% | 6.8k | $41k (exactly $40,612) | Robin Nicolet |
 | Cybersex: Lust Story | older | $9.99 | 111 74% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $33,267) | Octo Games |
 | CyberTD | older | $19.99 | 50 66% | 1.5k | $30k (exactly $29,985) | Clockwork Origins |
 | Deep Space Cache | $0.99 | 884 90% | 27k | $26k (exactly $26,255) | Monu | |
 | BastionOS | $3.30 | 173 97% | 5.2k | $17k (exactly $17,127) | Feral Paw | |
 | Xenosensory | $2.99 | 161 93% | 4.8k | $14k (exactly $14,442) | caiys | |
 | Sporbs | $4.99 | 92 78% | 2.8k | $14k (exactly $13,772) | Who Nose Studios | |
 | Yet Another Incremental Game (but this time about coding) | · EA | $7.99 | 39 71% | 1.2k | $9.3k (exactly $9,348) | Raclette Games |
 | Terraforming Titans | $5.00 | 58 94% | 1.7k | $8.7k (exactly $8,700) | terraforming.titans |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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