Do I ship it?

Games › Idler › Idler + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler Incremental game?

Idler + Incremental

Of 1,188 developers who shipped an Idler 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.. 1,592 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 1 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×11 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 1,592 games are announced against 930 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 1,592 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Idler + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,188
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.1k → $2.2k → $2.1k → $1.4k → $1.2k → $1.8k → $1.4k (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Idler + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,188
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,256)
Top 25% $9.1k (exactly $9,149)
Top 5% $153k (exactly $152,929)
Developers, 2 yr 1,188
Released games 2,305
Announced 1,592
Effort 1 / 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 100% on the market, supply 215% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
1 / 10 · text and UI only
Systems
Idler, Incremental; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Management
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 85,909 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $9.1k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 419 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,592 games are announced against 930 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Idler with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds10 devs · median $36k · 10 announced
  2. + FarmingStrong odds33 devs · median $5.9k · 25 announced
  3. + Hack and SlashFair32 devs · median $6.4k · 50 announced
  4. + DrivingFair16 devs · median $5.5k · 18 announced
  5. + LootFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  6. + FPSFair22 devs · median $4.2k · 23 announced
  7. + Turn-Based CombatFair52 devs · median $4.0k · 41 announced
  8. + Turn-Based StrategyFair50 devs · median $3.6k · 45 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair16 devs · median $3.0k · 17 announced
  10. + Dark FantasyFair83 devs · median $2.9k · 128 announced
  11. + CapitalismFair205 devs · median $2.9k · 260 announced
  12. + SwordplayFair9 devs · median $2.7k · 4 announced

All 177 pairs on the Idler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cookie Clicker 2021 · $13M Scritchy Scratchy 2026 · $3.2M Shelldiver 2025 · $2.5M Dragon Cliff 2018 · $2.3M Bills Must Be Paid 2026 · $2.1M
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
Scritchy Scratchy $6.99 15,245 94% 457k $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) Lunch Money Games
Shelldiver $4.99 16,806 98% 504k $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) Gagonfe
Dragon Cliff older $9.99 7,679 88% 230k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) Meta Interaction
Bills Must Be Paid $6.99 9,928 96% 298k $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) Rike Games
Berry Bury Berry $7.99 8,619 98% 259k $2.1M (exactly $2,065,974) Get(Color) Games
(the) Gnorp Apologue older $6.99 9,613 94% 288k $2.0M (exactly $2,015,846) Myco
BitCraft Online · EA $15.99 3,334 72% 100k $1.6M (exactly $1,599,320) Clockwork Laboratories, Inc.
Chillquarium older $5.99 7,780 92% 233k $1.4M (exactly $1,398,066) Ben Reber
Tiny Pasture $5.99 7,055 92% 212k $1.3M (exactly $1,267,784) CaveLiquid
Keep on Mining! $4.99 8,300 93% 249k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) EagleEye Games
Sir, We Have an Orc Problem $9.99 4,123 86% 124k $1.2M (exactly $1,235,663) Mumpitz Games
Fortune Mill $7.99 3,712 81% 111k $890k (exactly $889,766) Lavaflame2
Tower Wizard $2.99 8,787 96% 264k $788k (exactly $788,194) Barribob

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.