Games › Loot › Loot + Incremental
Should I ship a Loot Incremental game?
Loot + Incremental
Of 145 developers who shipped a Loot Incremental game 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.. 236 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×4.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $960. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 236 games are announced against 127 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $958 (exactly $958) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.9k (exactly $2,936) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $16,147) |
| Top 5% | $178k (exactly $177,618) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 145 |
| Released games | 290 |
| Announced | 236 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 200% on the market, supply 505% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 26%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Loot
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Loot, Incremental; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Strategy, Simulation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 22,683 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $960. 8 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 236 games are announced against 127 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + ArcadeFair
Comparable games
Dragon Cliff 2018 · $2.3M 
Keep on Mining! 2025 · $1.2M 
Fortune Mill 2026 · $890k 
Keep on Mining! - Worlds 2026 · $398k 
Loot of Baal 2025 · $370k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dragon Cliff | older | $9.99 | 7,679 88% | 230k | $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) | Meta Interaction |
| | Keep on Mining! | $4.99 | 8,300 93% | 249k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) | EagleEye Games | |
| | Fortune Mill | $7.99 | 3,712 81% | 111k | $890k (exactly $889,766) | Lavaflame2 | |
| | Keep on Mining! - Worlds | $6.99 | 1,899 80% | 57k | $398k (exactly $398,220) | EagleEye Games | |
| | Loot of Baal | $8.99 | 1,372 62% | 41k | $370k (exactly $370,028) | Gleamer Studio | |
 | Coin Pusher Casino | older | $12.50 | 950 84% | 29k | $356k (exactly $356,250) | TreeNutsGames |
 | Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising | $9.99 | 1,160 77% | 35k | $348k (exactly $347,652) | Small Mill, Small Mill | |
 | This Ain’t Even Poker, Ya Joker | $5.99 | 1,781 86% | 53k | $320k (exactly $320,046) | Mash | |
 | Loot Loop | $4.99 | 1,701 93% | 51k | $255k (exactly $254,640) | BitBrew | |
 | BORE BLASTERS | older | $9.99 | 709 80% | 21k | $212k (exactly $212,487) | 8BitSkull |
 | Maktala: Slime Lootfest | $4.99 | 1,345 79% | 40k | $201k (exactly $201,346) | Samharia Studios | |
 | Desktop Raid | $8.99 | 672 76% | 20k | $181k (exactly $181,238) | Lee_Studio | |
 | Hole Is Mine | $7.99 | 741 90% | 22k | $178k (exactly $177,618) | Incrementalist |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.