Games › Incremental › Incremental + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Incremental game?
Incremental + Psychological Horror
Of 105 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 122 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 122 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,676) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $16,189) |
| Top 5% | $288k (exactly $288,012) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 105 |
| Released games | 292 |
| Announced | 122 |
| 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 170% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 25%, 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 Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Idler
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 28,079 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 54 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 122 games are announced against 67 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Berry Bury Berry | $7.99 | 8,619 98% | 259k | $2.1M (exactly $2,065,974) | Get(Color) Games | |
| | Insaniquarium Deluxe | older | $4.99 | 6,398 96% | 192k | $958k (exactly $957,781) | PopCap Games, Inc. |
| | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio | |
| | Supermarket Chaos | $4.99 | 3,266 92% | 98k | $489k (exactly $488,920) | BunnyHop | |
| | Adorables | older | $29.99 | 502 80% | 15k | $452k (exactly $451,649) | White Rabbit |
| | That's not my Neighbor | $2.99 | 4,498 88% | 135k | $403k (exactly $403,471) | Nachosama Games | |
| | Q-UP | $9.99 | 1,126 93% | 34k | $337k (exactly $337,462) | Everybody House Games | |
| | Sixty Four | older | $5.99 | 1,604 73% | 48k | $288k (exactly $288,239) | Oleg Danilov |
| | Project P.I.T.T. | $9.99 | 961 78% | 29k | $288k (exactly $288,012) | Froke | |
| | Desktop Defender | $4.99 | 1,757 92% | 53k | $263k (exactly $263,023) | Conradical Games | |
| | Tingus Goose | $6.99 | 1,224 89% | 37k | $257k (exactly $256,673) | SweatyChair | |
| | Goblin Nest | $6.99 | 1,177 93% | 35k | $247k (exactly $246,817) | BadColor | |
| | Unfair Flips | $1.99 | 2,523 88% | 76k | $151k (exactly $150,623) | HEATHER FLOWERS |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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