Do I ship it?

Games › Trading › Trading + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Trading Idler?

Trading + Idler

Of 48 developers who shipped a paid Trading 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.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 104 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×4.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×418 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 104 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 104 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Trading + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 48
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $4.6k → $8.1k → $1.2k → $2.3k (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Trading + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 48
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $46k (exactly $45,909)
Top 5% $198k (exactly $198,318)
Developers, 2 yr 48
Released games 127
Announced 104
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 down 35% on the market, supply 335% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 50%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Trading
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Trading, Idler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Incremental, Resource Management
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 7,543 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $45k, 1 in 20 over $190k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 104 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Trading with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + MiningFair32 devs · median $12k · 33 announced
  2. + Score AttackFair13 devs · median $600 · 13 announced
  3. + MMORPGPoor odds6 devs · median $206k · 42 announced
  4. + Character CustomizationPoor odds26 devs · median $60k · 137 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds23 devs · median $47k · 84 announced
  6. + Co-opPoor odds24 devs · median $47k · 82 announced
  7. + FlightPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  8. + SportsPoor odds11 devs · median $34k · 14 announced
  9. + CollectathonPoor odds28 devs · median $30k · 65 announced
  10. + PhysicsPoor odds23 devs · median $27k · 71 announced
  11. + DrivingPoor odds23 devs · median $24k · 48 announced
  12. + LootPoor odds23 devs · median $23k · 60 announced

All 109 pairs on the Trading page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Tiny Aquarium: Social Fishkeeping 2025 · $761k Wolf of Stock Street 2021 · $289k Crypto Mining Simulator 2021 · $212k Military Incremental Complex 2025 · $207k Vending Machine Co. 2026 · $198k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tiny Aquarium: Social Fishkeeping $7.49 3,386 95% 102k $761k (exactly $760,834) Lunheim Studios
Wolf of Stock Street older $10.99 878 77% 26k $289k (exactly $289,477) 樹懶叫工作室, sloth gamer
Crypto Mining Simulator older $4.99 1,419 65% 43k $212k (exactly $212,424) Satosha Nakamoti
Military Incremental Complex $9.99 692 82% 21k $207k (exactly $207,392) Space Kraken Studios
Vending Machine Co. $14.99 441 85% 13k $198k (exactly $198,318) Rogue Duck Interactive
Bones and Coins $7.99 638 72% 19k $153k (exactly $152,929) Troyd Games
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
MMO98 $6.99 511 69% 15k $107k (exactly $107,157) BiteMe Games
GeckoShop $9.99 342 66% 10k $102k (exactly $102,497) Reptoid
Between Adventures IDLE · EA $7.99 319 71% 9.6k $76k (exactly $76,464) Loop Forge
IDLE_DIRECTIVE $4.99 505 86% 15k $76k (exactly $75,598) Kevinfu510
Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG $14.99 144 84% 4.3k $65k (exactly $64,757) Wizard

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.