Games › Incremental › Incremental + Historical
Should I ship a Historical Incremental game?
Incremental + Historical
Of 47 developers who shipped a Historical Incremental 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.. 42 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 440% on the market; 42 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $4.1k (exactly $4,060) |
| Top 5% | $99k (exactly $98,769) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 47 |
| Released games | 131 |
| Announced | 42 |
| 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 440% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Point & Click
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Cartoony
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,705 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Incremental with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + OtomeStrong odds
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + MiningFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + LootFair
- + SupernaturalFair
Comparable games
Microcivilization 2026 · $776k 
Immortal Family 2024 · $509k 
Proverbs 2024 · $482k 
Long Dream 2023 · $202k 
Wishful Journey:Love Across Time 2024 · $128k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Microcivilization | $17.99 | 1,437 78% | 43k | $776k (exactly $775,549) | Ondrej Homola | |
| | Immortal Family | older | $13.99 | 1,213 54% | 36k | $509k (exactly $509,096) | 一起来修仙工作室 |
| | Proverbs | $8.99 | 1,786 96% | 54k | $482k (exactly $481,684) | Mark Ffrench | |
| | Long Dream | older | $6.99 | 962 98% | 29k | $202k (exactly $201,731) | WildMonkey |
| | Wishful Journey:Love Across Time | older | $9.99 | 426 88% | 13k | $128k (exactly $127,672) | Hillhouse Holdings Limited |
 | Crownhold | $6.99 | 471 84% | 14k | $99k (exactly $98,769) | Tobias Mikula | |
 | The House of Da Vinci VR | $24.99 | 126 93% | 3.8k | $94k (exactly $94,462) | Blue Brain Games | |
 | Mosaic of The Pharaohs | $8.99 | 297 92% | 8.9k | $80k (exactly $80,101) | Mark Ffrench | |
 | 孟德大小姐与自爆少年THREE KINGDOM FANTASY | older | $7.99 | 307 66% | 9.2k | $74k (exactly $73,588) | 蓝铂工作室 |
 | Citizen of Rome - Dynasty Ascendant | older | $9.99 | 235 80% | 7.1k | $70k (exactly $70,430) | Citizen of Life Games |
 | Meow Palace: Forbidden City | · EA | $5.99 | 247 90% | 7.4k | $44k (exactly $44,386) | 宫喵家族 |
 | Mewseum: Masterpieces | $6.99 | 133 98% | 4.0k | $28k (exactly $27,890) | Climbing Goat Games | |
 | Rose Guns Days -Season 1- | $12.99 | 47 89% | 1.4k | $18k (exactly $18,316) | 07th Expansion | |
 | Shui's Odyssey | $4.99 | 88 82% | 2.6k | $13k (exactly $13,174) | Intentional Studio | |
 | Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro | $3.99 | 73 95% | 2.2k | $8.7k (exactly $8,738) | Nukearts Studio |
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.