Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Idler
Should I ship an Idler Life Sim?
Life Sim + Idler
Of 242 developers who shipped an Idler Life Sim 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.. 288 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×368 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 288 games are announced against 156 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,030) |
| Top 5% | $175k (exactly $174,680) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 242 |
| Released games | 474 |
| Announced | 288 |
| 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 down 55% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Idler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Incremental, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 34,493 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 108 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 288 games are announced against 156 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M 
Spirit City: Lofi Sessions 2024 · $5.5M 
Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story 2025 · $4.4M 
Farm Together 2 2025 · $3.5M 
Rusty's Retirement 2024 · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | WorldBox - God Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 51,071 95% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,627,279) | Maxim Karpenko |
| | Spirit City: Lofi Sessions | older | $11.99 | 15,211 97% | 456k | $5.5M (exactly $5,471,397) | Mooncube Games |
| | Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story | $11.99 | 12,215 98% | 366k | $4.4M (exactly $4,393,736) | Nestopi Inc. | |
| | Farm Together 2 | $25.99 | 4,456 93% | 134k | $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) | Milkstone Studios | |
| | Rusty's Retirement | older | $6.99 | 13,902 96% | 417k | $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) | Mister Morris Games |
 | Retirement Simulator | · EA older | $13.99 | 3,757 34% | 113k | $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) | DoubleThink Studio |
 | Placid Plastic Duck Simulator | older | $1.99 | 17,846 97% | 535k | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,406) | turbolento games |
 | Vanity Fair: The Pursuit | older | $6.99 | 4,014 87% | 120k | $842k (exactly $841,736) | 木焱工作室 |
 | Ithya: Magic Studies | $10.99 | 2,103 97% | 63k | $693k (exactly $693,359) | BlueTurtle | |
 | Chill Pulse | older | $4.99 | 4,619 95% | 139k | $691k (exactly $691,464) | Catos Game |
 | Maltese's Fluffy Onsen | $5.99 | 2,727 94% | 82k | $490k (exactly $490,042) | Sinkhole Studio, Moonlab Studio | |
 | Ropuka's Idle Island | $3.99 | 4,048 95% | 121k | $485k (exactly $484,546) | Moczan, Little Chmura, Begoña Pereda | |
 | Forage Wizard | $6.99 | 1,549 87% | 46k | $325k (exactly $324,825) | Lost Maxim | |
 | Isekai Sex Boutique | $10.99 | 746 88% | 22k | $246k (exactly $245,956) | PEROCO WORKS | |
 | How to Train Your Cock | $3.99 | 1,875 95% | 56k | $224k (exactly $224,438) | Little Horror Studios | |
 | SchoolBoy Runaway | $1.99 | 3,731 90% | 112k | $223k (exactly $222,741) | Linked Squad | |
 | My Little Life | $5.99 | 1,043 89% | 31k | $187k (exactly $187,427) | 9FingerGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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