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Should I ship a Word Game Idler?
Idler + Word Game
Of 48 developers who shipped a Word Game 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.. 38 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 1 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×11 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×897 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 38 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 5% | $107k (exactly $106,693) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 48 |
| Released games | 147 |
| Announced | 38 |
| Effort | 1 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- 1 / 10 · text and UI only
- Systems
- Idler, Word Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Incremental, Adventure
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 9 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 3,850 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Idler with a different second tag, 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
Retirement Simulator 2022 · EA · $1.6M 
Vanity Fair: The Pursuit 2024 · $842k 
xiuzhen idle 2025 · $416k 
懒人修仙传2 2022 · EA · $209k 
Space industrial empire 2024 · $184k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Retirement Simulator | · EA older | $13.99 | 3,757 34% | 113k | $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) | DoubleThink Studio |
| | Vanity Fair: The Pursuit | older | $6.99 | 4,014 87% | 120k | $842k (exactly $841,736) | 木焱工作室 |
| | xiuzhen idle | $5.99 | 2,313 79% | 69k | $416k (exactly $415,646) | 游戏养家工作室 | |
| | 懒人修仙传2 | · EA older | $7.99 | 873 71% | 26k | $209k (exactly $209,258) | 托更的修罗 |
| | Space industrial empire | older | $5.99 | 1,022 85% | 31k | $184k (exactly $183,653) | 游戏养家工作室 |
 | Paper Bride 5 Two Lifetimes | older | $9.99 | 606 84% | 18k | $182k (exactly $181,618) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | 懒人修仙传 | older | $3.99 | 1,172 60% | 35k | $140k (exactly $140,288) | 托更的修罗 |
 | Paper Bride 6 Nightmare | $9.99 | 369 81% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | HeartBeat Plus | |
 | The Eastern Sacrifice | $9.99 | 356 55% | 11k | $107k (exactly $106,693) | 五条虾仁(5 shrimps) | |
 | 挂机神话 | older | $1.99 | 1,693 90% | 51k | $101k (exactly $101,072) | 狮子 |
 | UncleOffice:uncle Dating Simulator | $15.99 | 92 61% | 2.8k | $44k (exactly $44,132) | GameUncle | |
 | Lower? Higher! | $9.99 | 146 67% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $43,756) | Unplugged Studio | |
 | Idle Land of Exile | $4.99 | 239 68% | 7.2k | $36k (exactly $35,778) | 所以然 | |
 | 神魔山海经 Gods Monster | $11.99 | 57 59% | 1.7k | $21k (exactly $20,503) | 红尘背包客 | |
 | Idle Xianxia Cultivation | $2.99 | 159 88% | 4.8k | $14k (exactly $14,262) | 觅仙踪 | |
 | 鸿运修仙传 | $5.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | 玉米工作室 | |
 | Cultivation Idle | · EA | $1.99 | 85 76% | 2.6k | $5.1k (exactly $5,074) | 老鱼工作室 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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