Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Idler
Should I ship an Idler Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Idler
Of 129 developers who shipped an Idler Puzzle game 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.. 143 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $120 for a 2 / 10 build. 84 developers shipped in the last year and 143 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $201 (exactly $201) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,700) |
| Top 5% | $217k (exactly $217,453) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 129 |
| Released games | 445 |
| Announced | 143 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $2.99 |
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 115% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Puzzle, Idler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Incremental, Resource Management
- Price point
- $2.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 21,919 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 143 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
THE LONGING 2020 · $3.1M 
The Farmer Was Replaced 2025 · $2.7M 
Fly Corp 2023 · $1.4M 
Stone Story RPG 2023 · $803k 
Orb of Creation 2026 · $779k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | THE LONGING | older | $14.99 | 6,977 92% | 209k | $3.1M (exactly $3,137,557) | Studio Seufz |
| | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
| | Fly Corp | older | $14.99 | 3,112 85% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,399,466) | KishMish Games |
| | Stone Story RPG | older | $29.99 | 893 90% | 27k | $803k (exactly $803,432) | Rex Games, standardcombo |
| | Orb of Creation | $11.99 | 2,167 84% | 65k | $779k (exactly $779,470) | MarpleGames | |
 | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio | |
 | Furnish Master | · EA older | $14.99 | 1,108 81% | 33k | $498k (exactly $498,268) | Alex Blintsov |
 | Aquarist | older | $15.99 | 950 81% | 29k | $456k (exactly $455,715) | FreeMind S.A. |
 | Mountain | older | $0.99 | 12,921 88% | 388k | $384k (exactly $383,754) | David OReilly |
 | Outhold | $6.99 | 1,818 86% | 55k | $381k (exactly $381,235) | Tellus Games | |
 | Haydee 3 | $29.99 | 321 84% | 9.6k | $289k (exactly $288,804) | Haydee Interactive | |
 | SchoolBoy Runaway | $1.99 | 3,731 90% | 112k | $223k (exactly $222,741) | Linked Squad | |
 | Asbury Pines | · EA | $12.99 | 558 90% | 17k | $217k (exactly $217,453) | Chaystar Unlimited LLC |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | I'm on Observation Duty 7 | $11.99 | 426 93% | 13k | $153k (exactly $153,232) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games | |
 | Suncraft | $6.99 | 543 92% | 16k | $114k (exactly $113,867) | Spicy Tuna Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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