Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Idler?

Procedural Generation + Idler

Of 98 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 107 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $260. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 107 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 107 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 98
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.9k → $12k → $2.8k → $3.3k → $987 → $1.1k → $807 (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 98
Bottom 30% $252 (exactly $252)
Median $807 (exactly $807)
Top 25% $4.7k (exactly $4,672)
Top 5% $104k (exactly $103,592)
Developers, 2 yr 98
Released games 191
Announced 107
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 10% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Procedural Generation, Idler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Simulation, Resource Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 8,622 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $260, median $810, 1 in 4 over $4.6k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $260. 9 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 107 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SnowFair11 devs · median $3.0k · 16 announced
  2. + Traditional RoguelikeFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + DetectiveFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 30 announced
  4. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  5. + TypingFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced
  6. + LogicFair137 devs · median $478 · 149 announced
  7. + Walking SimulatorFair57 devs · median $449 · 62 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerFair49 devs · median $449 · 42 announced
  9. + Hidden ObjectFair58 devs · median $418 · 56 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds31 devs · median $77k · 95 announced
  11. + TrainsPoor odds22 devs · median $30k · 35 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds10 devs · median $27k · 40 announced

All 222 pairs on the Procedural Generation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M BitCraft Online 2025 · EA · $1.6M To The Core 2023 · $1.2M Fantasy Map Simulator 2024 · EA · $1.0M Mountain 2014 · $384k
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
BitCraft Online · EA $15.99 3,334 72% 100k $1.6M (exactly $1,599,320) Clockwork Laboratories, Inc.
To The Core older $7.99 5,087 92% 153k $1.2M (exactly $1,219,354) SomethingExtra
Fantasy Map Simulator · EA older $7.99 4,190 89% 126k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,343) The Stranger
Mountain older $0.99 12,921 88% 388k $384k (exactly $383,754) David OReilly
Galactic Mining Corp older $12.99 868 84% 26k $338k (exactly $338,260) Windybeard
Trainatic $5.99 1,089 89% 33k $196k (exactly $195,693) Ryan Forrester
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
Widget Inc. $4.99 761 84% 23k $114k (exactly $113,922) Leaping Turtle
Agrivore: Incremental Farming $6.99 494 70% 15k $104k (exactly $103,592) verty
Black Hole Fishing $5.99 571 88% 17k $103k (exactly $102,609) SDG Games
PolyPine $8.99 368 95% 11k $99k (exactly $99,250) Cloudberry Pine
Forest Hustle $4.99 570 90% 17k $85k (exactly $85,329) Mike Forest
Idle Deepcore $6.99 365 85% 11k $77k (exactly $76,540) Bluehood Games
IDLE_DIRECTIVE $4.99 505 86% 15k $76k (exactly $75,598) Kevinfu510

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