Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Loot Idler?

Loot + Idler

Of 181 developers who shipped a Loot 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.. 256 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×7.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.1k. Revenue is flat on the market; 256 games are announced against 146 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.2 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 256 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 181
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.7k → $4.6k → $11k → $3.6k → $6.4k → $10k → $5.5k (still earning) → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 181
Bottom 30% $1.1k (exactly $1,076)
Median $4.5k (exactly $4,491)
Top 25% $20k (exactly $20,229)
Top 5% $232k (exactly $231,672)
Developers, 2 yr 181
Released games 362
Announced 256
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 flat on the market, supply 275% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 27%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot, Idler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Strategy, RPG
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 24,257 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.1k, median $4.5k, 1 in 4 over $20k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 7 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 256 games are announced against 146 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  10. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  11. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced
  12. + ArcadeFair147 devs · median $1.9k · 215 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dragon Cliff older $9.99 7,679 88% 230k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) Meta Interaction
Keep on Mining! $4.99 8,300 93% 249k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) EagleEye Games
再刷一把 PlayAgain older $8.99 4,416 67% 132k $1.2M (exactly $1,190,995) 滑稽工作室
Multiverse Loot Hunter $11.99 2,585 80% 78k $930k (exactly $929,824) 游戏养家工作室
Fortune Mill $7.99 3,712 81% 111k $890k (exactly $889,766) Lavaflame2
Ghost of Dragon · EA older $19.99 764 40% 23k $458k (exactly $458,171) Meta Interaction
Keep on Mining! - Worlds $6.99 1,899 80% 57k $398k (exactly $398,220) EagleEye Games
Loot of Baal $8.99 1,372 62% 41k $370k (exactly $370,028) Gleamer Studio
Coin Pusher Casino older $12.50 950 84% 29k $356k (exactly $356,250) TreeNutsGames
Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising $9.99 1,160 77% 35k $348k (exactly $347,652) Small Mill, Small Mill
This Ain’t Even Poker, Ya Joker $5.99 1,781 86% 53k $320k (exactly $320,046) Mash
Dark Hunting Ground $12.99 771 92% 23k $300k (exactly $300,459) BingX
Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons $9.99 976 86% 29k $293k (exactly $292,507) Blast Programming
Loot Loop $4.99 1,701 93% 51k $255k (exactly $254,640) BitBrew

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