Games › Grand Strategy › Grand Strategy + Incremental
Should I ship an Incremental Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Incremental
Only 17 developers shipped an Incremental Grand Strategy in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Idle Deepcore, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 27 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
| Top 25% | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) |
| Top 5% | $77k (exactly $76,540) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 52 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 1600% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 23%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grand Strategy
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Grand Strategy, Incremental; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Minimalist, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 685 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + SportsFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CrimeFair
- + RacingFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot
- + TabletopLong shot
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
Comparable games
Idle Deepcore 2026 · $77k 
Goal Idle 2026 · EA · $21k 
Beaver Clicker 2023 · EA · $9.1k 
Middle Age Conquest 2021 · $8.0k 
CompactO - Idle Game 2021 · $7.2k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Idle Deepcore | $6.99 | 365 85% | 11k | $77k (exactly $76,540) | Bluehood Games | |
| | Goal Idle | · EA | $6.99 | 101 74% | 3.0k | $21k (exactly $21,180) | Royue Games |
| | Beaver Clicker | · EA older | $4.99 | 61 75% | 1.8k | $9.1k (exactly $9,132) | Temmie |
| | Middle Age Conquest | older | $6.99 | 38 76% | 1.1k | $8.0k (exactly $7,969) | Musa GUNGOR |
| | CompactO - Idle Game | older | $2.99 | 80 70% | 2.4k | $7.2k (exactly $7,176) | Considera Games LLC |
 | Носковраздор | $0.99 | 136 51% | 4.1k | $4.0k (exactly $4,039) | BMBK Games | |
 | Orbit Zero | older | $7.99 | 15 80% | 450 | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) | Kaan Özgül |
 | PacketStorm | older | $7.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) | ProjectorGames |
 | Mystery Box 4: The Journey | older | $6.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | XSGames |
 | Restitutor: Empire Restored | · EA | $5.99 | 13 84% | 390 | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) | FishPond |
 | Gym Empire - Idle Gym Tycoon Management | $4.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Chronik Spartan | |
 | Smoke Town | $6.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $1.9k (exactly $1,887) | TSRV | |
 | Arms Dealer | $5.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $1.6k (exactly $1,617) | Koro Pixel Studio | |
 | Stellar Industrialist | $2.99 | 18 88% | 540 | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) | PcZ Games | |
 | Odd Machines: Mechanical Boxes | $5.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | XSGames | |
 | CheeseMoney | $2.99 | 13 23% | 390 | $1.2k (exactly $1,166) | Liang ZhiYa, Global People Holdings Gro… (Liang ZhiYa, Global People Holdings Group LLC, Song-Ya Network Systems (Guangzhou) Co Ltd) |
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.