Do I ship it?

Games › Idler › Idler + War

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a War Idler?

Idler + War

Of 25 developers who shipped a War 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.. 34 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $480. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 34 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 34 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Idler + War
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.0k → $478 → $1.2k → $12k → $1.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Idler + War: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $478 (exactly $478)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,731)
Top 5% $207k (exactly $207,392)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 51
Announced 34
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 140% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 24%, 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.

Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
War
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Idler; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Incremental
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 6,571 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 $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $200k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Idler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds10 devs · median $36k · 10 announced
  2. + FarmingStrong odds33 devs · median $5.9k · 25 announced
  3. + Hack and SlashFair32 devs · median $6.4k · 50 announced
  4. + DrivingFair16 devs · median $5.5k · 18 announced
  5. + LootFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  6. + FPSFair22 devs · median $4.2k · 23 announced
  7. + Turn-Based CombatFair52 devs · median $4.0k · 41 announced
  8. + Turn-Based StrategyFair50 devs · median $3.6k · 45 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair16 devs · median $3.0k · 17 announced
  10. + Dark FantasyFair83 devs · median $2.9k · 128 announced
  11. + CapitalismFair205 devs · median $2.9k · 260 announced
  12. + SwordplayFair9 devs · median $2.7k · 4 announced

All 177 pairs on the Idler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Sir, We Have an Orc Problem 2026 · $1.2M Fantasy Map Simulator 2024 · EA · $1.0M Military Incremental Complex 2025 · $207k Coin Push RPG 2025 · $175k Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite 2025 · $125k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sir, We Have an Orc Problem $9.99 4,123 86% 124k $1.2M (exactly $1,235,663) Mumpitz Games
Fantasy Map Simulator · EA older $7.99 4,190 89% 126k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,343) The Stranger
Military Incremental Complex $9.99 692 82% 21k $207k (exactly $207,392) Space Kraken Studios
Coin Push RPG $9.99 584 76% 18k $175k (exactly $175,025) RAmen
Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite $5.99 698 83% 21k $125k (exactly $125,431) RyanJakob
War Tortoise older $12.99 137 79% 4.1k $53k (exactly $53,389) Foursaken Media
Countryballs: Power Protocol $9.99 168 79% 5.0k $50k (exactly $50,350) KNK DEVELOP
Automata Empire older $8.99 48 66% 1.4k $13k (exactly $12,946) Nonadecimal Creative
Hydra Heli $4.99 83 91% 2.5k $12k (exactly $12,425) Ideas Per Second
Songs of Yummy $3.99 98 74% 2.9k $12k (exactly $11,731) DreamStep, FUTU Studio
Terraforming Titans $5.00 58 94% 1.7k $8.7k (exactly $8,700) terraforming.titans
Open The Gate: Just A Little $5.99 37 75% 1.1k $6.6k (exactly $6,649) Abubu Dance
Hydra Heli 2 $6.99 30 80% 900 $6.3k (exactly $6,291) Ideas Per Second

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