Games › Idler › Idler + Historical
Should I ship a Historical Idler?
Idler + Historical
Of 30 developers who shipped a Historical 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.. 36 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Revenue is up 395% on the market; 36 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $600 (exactly $600) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $3.4k (exactly $3,352) |
| Top 5% | $99k (exactly $98,769) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 65 |
| Announced | 36 |
| 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 395% on the market, supply 175% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 25%, 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
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Idler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Economy, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Hand-drawn, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 2,493 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. All of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 22 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
Ages of Conflict: World War Simulator 2023 · EA · $1.9M 
Microcivilization 2026 · $776k 
Long Dream 2023 · $202k 
Crownhold 2026 · $99k 
Meow Palace: Forbidden City 2025 · EA · $44k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ages of Conflict: World War Simulator | · EA older | $6.99 | 8,904 96% | 267k | $1.9M (exactly $1,867,169) | JoySpark Games |
| | Microcivilization | $17.99 | 1,437 78% | 43k | $776k (exactly $775,549) | Ondrej Homola | |
| | Long Dream | older | $6.99 | 962 98% | 29k | $202k (exactly $201,731) | WildMonkey |
| | Crownhold | $6.99 | 471 84% | 14k | $99k (exactly $98,769) | Tobias Mikula | |
| | Meow Palace: Forbidden City | · EA | $5.99 | 247 90% | 7.4k | $44k (exactly $44,386) | 宫喵家族 |
 | Alnico Smithery | · EA | $14.99 | 98 82% | 2.9k | $44k (exactly $44,071) | Pinapl |
 | 中国战疫 | older | $16.99 | 64 76% | 1.9k | $33k (exactly $32,621) | 不吃蛋黄 |
 | Elf World Adventure: Part 1 | older | $1.99 | 467 82% | 14k | $28k (exactly $27,880) | White Panda Studio, 430Games |
 | Cthulhu pub | older | $9.99 | 35 71% | 1.1k | $10k (exactly $10,490) | Marginalact |
 | ZAR | older | $9.99 | 17 64% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | PancakeGames |
 | Saccharine Echo | $4.99 | 27 85% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | Neverliss | |
 | Носковраздор | $0.99 | 136 51% | 4.1k | $4.0k (exactly $4,039) | BMBK Games | |
 | Streetlight Syndicate | $6.99 | 17 82% | 510 | $3.6k (exactly $3,565) | BeagleGuy | |
 | Grow Empire: Rome | $3.99 | 28 64% | 840 | $3.4k (exactly $3,352) | Games Station | |
 | Regnum Idle | $4.99 | 19 63% | 570 | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) | Vexos Games | |
 | Port Trader | $5.99 | 13 46% | 390 | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) | Urban Isotope |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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