Games › Tower Defense › Tower Defense + Idler
Should I ship an Idler Tower Defense?
Tower Defense + Idler
Of 108 developers who shipped an Idler Tower Defense 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.. 136 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 215% on the market; 136 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,458) |
| Top 5% | $125k (exactly $125,431) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 108 |
| Released games | 170 |
| Announced | 136 |
| 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 215% on the market, supply 295% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Idler
- effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Tower Defense, Idler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Strategy, Simulation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 14,170 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 136 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Tower Defense with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DwarvesStrong odds
- + MiningFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + TanksFair
- + MechsFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Gun CustomizationFair
- + LogicFair
- + On-Rails ShooterFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Turn-Based CombatFair
Comparable games
Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim 2025 · $2.2M 
Sir, We Have an Orc Problem 2026 · $1.2M 
Outhold 2025 · $381k 
miniBONG 2023 · $264k 
Desktop Defender 2025 · $263k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim | $24.90 | 2,938 77% | 88k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,686) | Rockbee Team | |
| | Sir, We Have an Orc Problem | $9.99 | 4,123 86% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,235,663) | Mumpitz Games | |
| | Outhold | $6.99 | 1,818 86% | 55k | $381k (exactly $381,235) | Tellus Games | |
| | miniBONG | older | $9.99 | 881 79% | 26k | $264k (exactly $264,036) | Game Star |
| | Desktop Defender | $4.99 | 1,757 92% | 53k | $263k (exactly $263,023) | Conradical Games | |
 | Zero Stress King: Idle Defense | $4.99 | 1,679 87% | 50k | $251k (exactly $251,346) | Pauloondra | |
 | Legendary Hoplite | older | $14.99 | 335 63% | 10k | $151k (exactly $150,650) | TripleBricksGames |
 | Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite | $5.99 | 698 83% | 21k | $125k (exactly $125,431) | RyanJakob | |
 | Doom Sweeper | older | $4.99 | 782 72% | 23k | $117k (exactly $117,065) | Paper Dog |
 | Crownhold | $6.99 | 471 84% | 14k | $99k (exactly $98,769) | Tobias Mikula | |
 | All Aboard! The Train Defense Express | $4.99 | 379 84% | 11k | $57k (exactly $56,736) | Likadev | |
 | Incrempire | $6.99 | 167 68% | 5.0k | $35k (exactly $35,020) | FMGames, Regnum Noctis | |
 | Infiniclick | $7.99 | 140 72% | 4.2k | $34k (exactly $33,558) | Nacho AB |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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