Games › Incremental › Incremental + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Incremental game?
Incremental + Horror
Of 105 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 122 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 290% on the market; 122 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,197) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) |
| Top 5% | $247k (exactly $246,817) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 105 |
| Released games | 287 |
| Announced | 122 |
| 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 290% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, 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
- Horror
- 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
- Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Idler
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 23,283 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 59 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 122 games are announced against 63 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
Cookie Clicker 2021 · $13M 
Berry Bury Berry 2026 · $2.1M 
Ravenous Devils 2022 · $1.4M 
Horripilant 2026 · $702k 
That's not my Neighbor 2025 · $403k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cookie Clicker | older | $4.99 | 87,916 96% | 2.6M | $13M (exactly $13,161,025) | Orteil, DashNet |
| | Berry Bury Berry | $7.99 | 8,619 98% | 259k | $2.1M (exactly $2,065,974) | Get(Color) Games | |
| | Ravenous Devils | older | $4.99 | 9,477 92% | 284k | $1.4M (exactly $1,418,707) | Bad Vices Games |
| | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio | |
| | That's not my Neighbor | $2.99 | 4,498 88% | 135k | $403k (exactly $403,471) | Nachosama Games | |
 | Sixty Four | older | $5.99 | 1,604 73% | 48k | $288k (exactly $288,239) | Oleg Danilov |
 | RATSHAKER™ | $2.99 | 3,011 92% | 90k | $270k (exactly $270,087) | Sunscorched Studios | |
 | Paper Bride 3 Unresolved Love | older | $9.99 | 874 92% | 26k | $262k (exactly $261,938) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | Tingus Goose | $6.99 | 1,224 89% | 37k | $257k (exactly $256,673) | SweatyChair | |
 | Goblin Nest | $6.99 | 1,177 93% | 35k | $247k (exactly $246,817) | BadColor | |
 | Feed the Reactor | $6.99 | 658 82% | 20k | $138k (exactly $137,983) | Adam Travers | |
 | Execute | $5.99 | 679 91% | 20k | $122k (exactly $122,016) | Payne Robinson | |
 | Paper Bride 6 Nightmare | $9.99 | 369 81% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | HeartBeat Plus | |
 | Dismantling Workshop of Bio-Girl | $29.99 | 120 61% | 3.6k | $108k (exactly $107,964) | 渡里laboratory |
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.