Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Incremental game?

Procedural Generation + Incremental

Of 103 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 134 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×239 the market median. Revenue is up 185% on the market; 134 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 185% on the market, 134 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 103
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $2.5k → $2.8k → $1.4k → $628 → $718 → $1.6k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 103
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $836 (exactly $836)
Top 25% $5.3k (exactly $5,273)
Top 5% $113k (exactly $113,324)
Developers, 2 yr 103
Released games 208
Announced 134
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 185% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Procedural Generation, Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Resource Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 10,952 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $840, 1 in 4 over $5.2k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Procedural Generation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SnowFair11 devs · median $3.0k · 16 announced
  2. + Traditional RoguelikeFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + DetectiveFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 30 announced
  4. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  5. + TypingFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced
  6. + IdlerFair98 devs · median $807 · 107 announced
  7. + LogicFair137 devs · median $478 · 149 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair57 devs · median $449 · 62 announced
  9. + Precision PlatformerFair49 devs · median $449 · 42 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair58 devs · median $418 · 56 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds31 devs · median $77k · 95 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds22 devs · median $30k · 35 announced

All 222 pairs on the Procedural Generation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

BitCraft Online 2025 · EA · $1.6M How Many Dudes? 2026 · $1.3M To The Core 2023 · $1.2M Galactic Mining Corp 2021 · $338k Gourdlets 2024 · $293k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BitCraft Online · EA $15.99 3,334 72% 100k $1.6M (exactly $1,599,320) Clockwork Laboratories, Inc.
How Many Dudes? $14.99 2,948 89% 88k $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) Butterscotch Shenanigans
To The Core older $7.99 5,087 92% 153k $1.2M (exactly $1,219,354) SomethingExtra
Galactic Mining Corp older $12.99 868 84% 26k $338k (exactly $338,260) Windybeard
Gourdlets older $4.99 1,954 92% 59k $293k (exactly $292,514) AuntyGames
BORE BLASTERS older $9.99 709 80% 21k $212k (exactly $212,487) 8BitSkull
Trainatic $5.99 1,089 89% 33k $196k (exactly $195,693) Ryan Forrester
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
Widget Inc. $4.99 761 84% 23k $114k (exactly $113,922) Leaping Turtle
Code: Terraform · EA $14.99 252 85% 7.6k $113k (exactly $113,324) AppsMafia
Agrivore: Incremental Farming $6.99 494 70% 15k $104k (exactly $103,592) verty
Black Hole Fishing $5.99 571 88% 17k $103k (exactly $102,609) SDG Games
PolyPine $8.99 368 95% 11k $99k (exactly $99,250) Cloudberry Pine
Forest Hustle $4.99 570 90% 17k $85k (exactly $85,329) Mike Forest

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