Games › Incremental › Incremental + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Incremental game?
Incremental + Psychological
Of 45 developers who shipped a Psychological 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.. 53 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 53 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 5% | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 98 |
| Announced | 53 |
| Effort | 3 / 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 up 115% on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Incremental; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Point & Click, Adventure, Puzzle
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 611 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. All of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 31 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
I'm on Observation Duty 6 2023 · $235k 
Insomnia: Theater in the Head 2022 · $216k 
CLICKOLDING 2024 · $149k 
I'm on Observation Duty 8 2025 · $85k 
GAME.exe 2021 · $50k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | I'm on Observation Duty 6 | older | $11.99 | 652 94% | 20k | $235k (exactly $234,524) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games |
| | Insomnia: Theater in the Head | older | $2.49 | 2,893 96% | 87k | $216k (exactly $216,107) | Perfect Day Studio |
| | CLICKOLDING | older | $2.99 | 1,662 81% | 50k | $149k (exactly $149,081) | Strange Scaffold |
| | I'm on Observation Duty 8 | $11.99 | 237 95% | 7.1k | $85k (exactly $85,249) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games | |
| | GAME.exe | older | $3.99 | 415 83% | 12k | $50k (exactly $49,676) | Punx Studios |
 | Touch Some Grass | older | $1.99 | 820 94% | 25k | $49k (exactly $48,954) | jpm_games |
 | Idea Fix | $9.99 | 128 92% | 3.8k | $38k (exactly $38,362) | ZuitLabs | |
 | 欢迎加入奇趣社 | older | $9.99 | 104 75% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $31,169) | Dream Cracker |
 | Elf boss's dog training | older | $7.99 | 109 74% | 3.3k | $26k (exactly $26,127) | Giver |
 | Lunar maiden, River-side Angel, and the Godlike moment | older | $10.99 | 74 86% | 2.2k | $24k (exactly $24,398) | サキュレント |
 | No Vacancy Tonight | $8.99 | 24 100% | 720 | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) | Momiji Games | |
 | Soul of Recollection | $8.99 | 16 81% | 480 | $4.3k (exactly $4,315) | Orange Ink Studio | |
 | All the Darkest Places | $4.99 | 27 33% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | BeanToast | |
 | Alice Mesmerizing Episodes of Neurosis (AMEN) | $1.49 | 84 94% | 2.5k | $3.8k (exactly $3,755) | Sons of Welder, FM Simple Games Studio | |
 | Meow Time Machine: Munch | $2.99 | 39 94% | 1.2k | $3.5k (exactly $3,498) | Magic Cat | |
 | Beggar's Life | $2.99 | 33 60% | 990 | $3.0k (exactly $2,960) | Perennial Hearts LLC | |
 | The Princess Factory | $4.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) | Haymaker Game Studios | |
 | Abulia | $5.99 | 10 70% | 300 | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) | Burros Aburridos |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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