Games › Incremental › Incremental + Noir
Should I ship a Noir Incremental game?
Incremental + Noir
Of 29 developers who shipped a Noir 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.. 27 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $270. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 27 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,197) |
| Top 25% | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) |
| Top 5% | $88k (exactly $88,072) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 79 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 55% on the market, supply 230% 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.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Noir
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Incremental; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Point & Click, Puzzle
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 3,165 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Incremental with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + OtomeStrong odds
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + MiningFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + LootFair
- + SupernaturalFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Chicken Police - Paint it RED! | older | $19.99 | 1,624 94% | 49k | $974k (exactly $973,913) | The Wild Gentlemen |
| | Lost2 | older | $15.99 | 1,382 81% | 41k | $663k (exactly $662,945) | DSGame |
| | Unfair Flips | $1.99 | 2,523 88% | 76k | $151k (exactly $150,623) | HEATHER FLOWERS | |
| | CLICKOLDING | older | $2.99 | 1,662 81% | 50k | $149k (exactly $149,081) | Strange Scaffold |
| | Mosaic of the Strange | $12.99 | 226 92% | 6.8k | $88k (exactly $88,072) | Mark Ffrench | |
| | The Kindeman Remedy | older | $4.99 | 270 67% | 8.1k | $40k (exactly $40,419) | Troglobytes Games |
| | Phantom Tentacle | older | $1.99 | 647 85% | 19k | $39k (exactly $38,626) | LSP GAME |
| | Boxed Girl | $4.99 | 166 72% | 5.0k | $25k (exactly $24,850) | エデン&イブ | |
| | NoseBound | $14.99 | 36 86% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | Quarantine Interactive | |
| | Dad's Monster House 2: MEDAL | $4.99 | 80 78% | 2.4k | $12k (exactly $11,976) | Cotton Game | |
| | The Midnight Crimes | $10.99 | 20 60% | 600 | $6.6k (exactly $6,594) | DeadlyCrow Games | |
| | No Vacancy Tonight | $8.99 | 24 100% | 720 | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) | Momiji Games | |
| | Just One More Link | $6.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) | Blagine | |
| | Streetlight Syndicate | $6.99 | 17 82% | 510 | $3.6k (exactly $3,565) | BeagleGuy | |
| | Green Pond Town | $1.99 | 55 74% | 1.7k | $3.3k (exactly $3,284) | Cotton Game |
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.