Games › Programming › Programming + Idler
Should I ship a Programming Idler?
Programming + Idler
Of 25 developers who shipped a Programming 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.. 29 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 1165% on the market; 29 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,075) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $19,272) |
| Top 5% | $187k (exactly $186,507) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 44 |
| Announced | 29 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 1165% on the market, supply 300% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Idler
- effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Programming, Idler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sandbox, Simulation, Automation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 10,370 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Programming with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Base BuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + SimulationFair
- + RobotsFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + FuturisticFair
Comparable games
The Farmer Was Replaced 2025 · $2.7M 
Stone Story RPG 2023 · $803k 
Stuck In Time 2021 · $244k 
Crypto Mining Simulator 2021 · $212k 
Craftlings 2026 · $187k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
| | Stone Story RPG | older | $29.99 | 893 90% | 27k | $803k (exactly $803,432) | Rex Games, standardcombo |
| | Stuck In Time | older | $7.99 | 1,018 84% | 31k | $244k (exactly $244,015) | Housemade Inc. |
| | Crypto Mining Simulator | older | $4.99 | 1,419 65% | 43k | $212k (exactly $212,424) | Satosha Nakamoti |
| | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | Startup Panic | older | $14.99 | 211 55% | 6.3k | $95k (exactly $94,887) | Algorocks |
 | The Bibites: Digital Life | · EA | $9.99 | 218 96% | 6.5k | $65k (exactly $65,335) | Omnia Studios |
 | Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG | $14.99 | 144 84% | 4.3k | $65k (exactly $64,757) | Wizard | |
 | AI Learns To Drive | $7.49 | 208 95% | 6.2k | $47k (exactly $46,738) | ActivationFunction | |
 | Trade Bots: A Technical Analysis Simulation | older | $11.99 | 100 63% | 3.0k | $36k (exactly $35,970) | Cinq-Mars Media |
 | The Legend of Pomodoro | $6.99 | 94 82% | 2.8k | $20k (exactly $19,712) | Tony Wang | |
 | UNHUMAN | $3.99 | 161 73% | 4.8k | $19k (exactly $19,272) | Kinda Lowkey Games | |
 | SysAdmin Odyssey - Back to the office | · EA | $8.30 | 40 75% | 1.2k | $10k (exactly $9,960) | Molodoy-GameDev |
 | Yet Another Incremental Game (but this time about coding) | · EA | $7.99 | 39 71% | 1.2k | $9.3k (exactly $9,348) | Raclette Games |
 | Games Tycoon | $5.99 | 39 53% | 1.2k | $7.0k (exactly $7,008) | Insignis Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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