Games › Idler › Idler + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Idler?
Idler + Psychological Horror
Of 58 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×6.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×635 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 66 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $15,937) |
| Top 5% | $301k (exactly $301,392) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 58 |
| Released games | 161 |
| Announced | 66 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 up 30% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 23%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Idler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Simulation, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 23,280 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.3k. 7 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Idler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashFair
- + DrivingFair
- + LootFair
- + FPSFair
- + Turn-Based CombatFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + SwordplayFair
Comparable games
Berry Bury Berry 2026 · $2.1M 
Horripilant 2026 · $702k 
MyVoiceZoo 2025 · $301k 
Sixty Four 2024 · $288k 
Desktop Defender 2025 · $263k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Berry Bury Berry | $7.99 | 8,619 98% | 259k | $2.1M (exactly $2,065,974) | Get(Color) Games | |
| | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio | |
| | MyVoiceZoo | $2.99 | 3,360 92% | 101k | $301k (exactly $301,392) | TRUSO | |
| | Sixty Four | older | $5.99 | 1,604 73% | 48k | $288k (exactly $288,239) | Oleg Danilov |
| | Desktop Defender | $4.99 | 1,757 92% | 53k | $263k (exactly $263,023) | Conradical Games | |
 | Tingus Goose | $6.99 | 1,224 89% | 37k | $257k (exactly $256,673) | SweatyChair | |
 | SchoolBoy Runaway | $1.99 | 3,731 90% | 112k | $223k (exactly $222,741) | Linked Squad | |
 | Paper Bride 5 Two Lifetimes | older | $9.99 | 606 84% | 18k | $182k (exactly $181,618) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | RUSSIAPHOBIA | older | $0.99 | 5,589 69% | 168k | $166k (exactly $165,993) | European Flameworms |
 | I'm on Observation Duty 7 | $11.99 | 426 93% | 13k | $153k (exactly $153,232) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games | |
 | Execute | $5.99 | 679 91% | 20k | $122k (exactly $122,016) | Payne Robinson | |
 | Paper Bride 6 Nightmare | $9.99 | 369 81% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | HeartBeat Plus | |
 | Graces: Posthumous Wish | $7.99 | 187 93% | 5.6k | $45k (exactly $44,824) | TomoToro |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.