Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Incremental

Of 630 developers who shipped an Incremental Resource Management 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.. 1,025 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $480. Revenue is up 145% on the market; 1,025 games are announced against 520 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 145% on the market, 1,025 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 630
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.3k → $5.7k → $2.7k → $2.5k → $1.8k → $1.8k → $2.9k (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 630
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,850)
Top 5% $247k (exactly $246,817)
Developers, 2 yr 630
Released games 1,037
Announced 1,025
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 145% on the market, supply 315% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Resource Management
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
Resource Management, Incremental; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Simulation, Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 77,882 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 153 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,025 games are announced against 520 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  10. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  11. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced
  12. + Time TravelFair16 devs · median $600 · 14 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cookie Clicker 2021 · $13M Scritchy Scratchy 2026 · $3.2M Shelldiver 2025 · $2.5M Startup Company 2020 · $2.3M Bills Must Be Paid 2026 · $2.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cookie Clicker older $4.99 87,916 96% 2.6M $13M (exactly $13,161,025) Orteil, DashNet
Scritchy Scratchy $6.99 15,245 94% 457k $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) Lunch Money Games
Shelldiver $4.99 16,806 98% 504k $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) Gagonfe
Startup Company older $12.99 5,853 81% 176k $2.3M (exactly $2,280,914) Hovgaard Games
Bills Must Be Paid $6.99 9,928 96% 298k $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) Rike Games
(the) Gnorp Apologue older $6.99 9,613 94% 288k $2.0M (exactly $2,015,846) Myco
Ravenous Devils older $4.99 9,477 92% 284k $1.4M (exactly $1,418,707) Bad Vices Games
Chillquarium older $5.99 7,780 92% 233k $1.4M (exactly $1,398,066) Ben Reber
Outpath older $14.99 2,898 92% 87k $1.3M (exactly $1,303,231) David Moralejo Sánchez
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
Tower Wizard $2.99 8,787 96% 264k $788k (exactly $788,194) Barribob
Orb of Creation $11.99 2,167 84% 65k $779k (exactly $779,470) MarpleGames
Microcivilization $17.99 1,437 78% 43k $776k (exactly $775,549) Ondrej Homola
A Game About Feeding A Black Hole $6.99 3,467 88% 104k $727k (exactly $727,030) Aarimous, Thornity
Digseum $2.99 8,033 97% 241k $721k (exactly $720,560) Rat Monthly

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