Games › Idler › Idler + Thriller
Should I ship a Thriller Idler?
Idler + Thriller
Only 18 developers shipped a Thriller Idler in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Haydee 3, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.7k, ×12 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×608 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 13 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.7k (exactly $5,689) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $15,937) |
| Top 5% | $289k (exactly $288,804) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 44 |
| Announced | 13 |
| 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 down 60% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, 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
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Idler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,985 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Haydee 3 2025 · $289k 
Asbury Pines 2025 · EA · $217k 
Paper Bride 5 Two Lifetimes 2023 · $182k 
Paper Bride 6 Nightmare 2024 · $111k 
Denos City: Complete Game 2022 · $78k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Haydee 3 | $29.99 | 321 84% | 9.6k | $289k (exactly $288,804) | Haydee Interactive | |
| | Asbury Pines | · EA | $12.99 | 558 90% | 17k | $217k (exactly $217,453) | Chaystar Unlimited LLC |
| | Paper Bride 5 Two Lifetimes | older | $9.99 | 606 84% | 18k | $182k (exactly $181,618) | HeartBeat Plus |
| | Paper Bride 6 Nightmare | $9.99 | 369 81% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | HeartBeat Plus | |
| | Denos City: Complete Game | older | $11.99 | 217 70% | 6.5k | $78k (exactly $78,055) | Backhole |
 | 1997 | older | $9.99 | 231 92% | 6.9k | $69k (exactly $69,231) | Hit'n'Run Digital Studio, RUZURA Intera… (Hit'n'Run Digital Studio, RUZURA Interactive) |
 | Rabbit Hole | older | $7.99 | 264 78% | 7.9k | $63k (exactly $63,281) | Nikita Ustinov, Nikolay Lazarev |
 | Family curse | older | $6.99 | 222 90% | 6.7k | $47k (exactly $46,553) | Stork Game |
 | Graces: Posthumous Wish | $7.99 | 187 93% | 5.6k | $45k (exactly $44,824) | TomoToro | |
 | The Sin | older | $4.99 | 222 87% | 6.7k | $33k (exactly $33,233) | Baba Nura |
 | Madness inside | $6.99 | 76 73% | 2.3k | $16k (exactly $15,937) | ZV GAMES | |
 | The Hust Banhmi | Bánh Mì Bách Khoa | $1.99 | 208 93% | 6.2k | $12k (exactly $12,418) | marisa0704 | |
 | Refuted Wind | $1.99 | 148 77% | 4.4k | $8.8k (exactly $8,836) | Tropical Games | |
 | Sanity Loops | $3.99 | 65 78% | 2.0k | $7.8k (exactly $7,780) | 375 Games | |
 | CyberControl: Another Life | $4.99 | 38 81% | 1.1k | $5.7k (exactly $5,689) | Cat Games Studio | |
 | Gamble: Hard Exit | $5.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $2.7k (exactly $2,696) | RedZet |
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.