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Should I ship a Robot Incremental game?
Incremental + Robots
Of 22 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 51 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 13 developers shipped in the last year and 51 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $3.8k (exactly $3,774) |
| Top 5% | $108k (exactly $107,964) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 down 90% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Robots
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Simulation, Arcade
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 1,838 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | You Know The Drill | $4.99 | 1,022 92% | 31k | $153k (exactly $152,993) | ludokai | |
| | Dismantling Workshop of Bio-Girl | $29.99 | 120 61% | 3.6k | $108k (exactly $107,964) | 渡里laboratory | |
| | Fishing The Abyss | $6.99 | 421 95% | 13k | $88k (exactly $88,284) | umaaaaaa studio | |
| | One Way: The Elevator | older | $3.99 | 441 94% | 13k | $53k (exactly $52,788) | Cotton Game |
| | SEX Tentacles [18+] | older | $3.99 | 181 57% | 5.4k | $22k (exactly $21,666) | Romantic Room |
| | Gridkeeper | $1.99 | 149 69% | 4.5k | $8.9k (exactly $8,895) | pixelwide | |
| | Terraforming Titans | $5.00 | 58 94% | 1.7k | $8.7k (exactly $8,700) | terraforming.titans | |
| | Catellite-609: feline space adventure | older | $12.99 | 17 64% | 510 | $6.6k (exactly $6,625) | ZorKI |
| | Deep Space Tavern | $5.99 | 21 90% | 630 | $3.8k (exactly $3,774) | World Away Games | |
| | Scrap Snap | $4.99 | 25 80% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | BinkyGames | |
| | Triptych Book I: Blockhead | · EA | $13.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $2.5k (exactly $2,518) | Mords, Tootsie |
| | Turbotz Testing 20XX | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | Zed-ex | |
| | CydonMan | $3.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $718 (exactly $718) | YesNine |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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