Games › Gambling › Gambling + Incremental
Should I ship an Incremental Gambling game?
Gambling + Incremental
Of 66 developers who shipped an Incremental Gambling 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.. 117 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×10 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $610k, ×5207 the market median. Revenue is up 370% on the market; 117 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,423) |
| Top 5% | $620k (exactly $619,664) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 66 |
| Released games | 122 |
| Announced | 117 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 up 370% on the market, supply 535% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 28%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Gambling
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Gambling, Incremental; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Simulation, Resource Management
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Relaxing, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 43,123 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 117 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Gambling with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Online Co-OpFair
- + Co-opFair
- + FPSFair
- + Life SimFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Multiple EndingsFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + MysteryFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Scritchy Scratchy | $6.99 | 15,245 94% | 457k | $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) | Lunch Money Games | |
| | Bills Must Be Paid | $6.99 | 9,928 96% | 298k | $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) | Rike Games | |
| | Fortune Mill | $7.99 | 3,712 81% | 111k | $890k (exactly $889,766) | Lavaflame2 | |
| | Gamblers Table | $6.99 | 2,955 74% | 89k | $620k (exactly $619,664) | greenpixels, Bossforge | |
| | Click the Button | $3.99 | 3,849 93% | 115k | $461k (exactly $460,725) | LoopCap | |
| | This Ain’t Even Poker, Ya Joker | $5.99 | 1,781 86% | 53k | $320k (exactly $320,046) | Mash | |
| | Incredicer | $2.99 | 2,408 85% | 72k | $216k (exactly $215,998) | pochi | |
| | LOLLIPOP! | older | $4.99 | 1,318 75% | 40k | $197k (exactly $197,305) | 430Games, __Ja__ga__imo__ |
| | Unfair Flips | $1.99 | 2,523 88% | 76k | $151k (exactly $150,623) | HEATHER FLOWERS | |
| | Slots & Diapers | $6.99 | 539 88% | 16k | $113k (exactly $113,028) | Parodie Games | |
| | Scratch the Ticket | $9.99 | 183 44% | 5.5k | $55k (exactly $54,845) | Shilenok |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.