Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Incremental
Should I ship an Incremental Life Sim?
Life Sim + Incremental
Of 191 developers who shipped an Incremental Life Sim 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.. 225 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 225 games are announced against 115 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $958 (exactly $958) |
| Top 25% | $7.2k (exactly $7,191) |
| Top 5% | $121k (exactly $120,807) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 191 |
| Released games | 414 |
| Announced | 225 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 10% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Life Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 13,023 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 100 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 225 games are announced against 115 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
Ropuka's Idle Island 2025 · $485k 
恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 2025 · $452k 
Handyman Legend 2023 · $433k 
Handyman Fantasy 2025 · $385k 
Aquarium Designer 2021 · $325k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ropuka's Idle Island | $3.99 | 4,048 95% | 121k | $485k (exactly $484,546) | Moczan, Little Chmura, Begoña Pereda | |
| | 恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 | $9.99 | 1,508 96% | 45k | $452k (exactly $451,948) | 光循花火工作室 | |
| | Handyman Legend | older | $6.99 | 2,066 89% | 62k | $433k (exactly $433,240) | SupaShinKen Studio |
| | Handyman Fantasy | $7.99 | 1,607 95% | 48k | $385k (exactly $385,198) | SupaShinKen Studio | |
| | Aquarium Designer | older | $9.99 | 1,086 84% | 33k | $325k (exactly $325,474) | Sigur Studio |
 | Forage Wizard | $6.99 | 1,549 87% | 46k | $325k (exactly $324,825) | Lost Maxim | |
 | Kiwi Clicker - Juiced Up | older | $4.99 | 1,655 93% | 50k | $248k (exactly $247,754) | Dimitri Kipper |
 | Final Profit: A Shop RPG | older | $14.99 | 520 95% | 16k | $234k (exactly $233,844) | Brent Arnold |
 | How to Train Your Cock | $3.99 | 1,875 95% | 56k | $224k (exactly $224,438) | Little Horror Studios | |
 | Insomnia: Theater in the Head | older | $2.49 | 2,893 96% | 87k | $216k (exactly $216,107) | Perfect Day Studio |
 | Behind Glass: Aquarium Simulator | $14.99 | 390 95% | 12k | $175k (exactly $175,383) | BitBros Inc | |
 | Fantasy Aquarium | $6.99 | 833 79% | 25k | $175k (exactly $174,680) | MOON SCAPE | |
 | Lakeside Bar | $5.99 | 820 86% | 25k | $147k (exactly $147,354) | BITCOVER | |
 | Vtuber Hack | $54.99 | 83 74% | 2.5k | $137k (exactly $136,925) | ベルゼブブ | |
 | Breeding City Welcomes you | $12.99 | 310 68% | 9.3k | $121k (exactly $120,807) | meteo.H |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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