Do I ship it?

GamesIncrementalIncremental + Romance

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Romance Incremental game?

Incremental + Romance

Of 146 developers who shipped a Romance 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.

Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×15 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Revenue is up 310% on the market; 134 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 310% on the market, 134 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Incremental + Romance
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 146
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.0k → $6.5k → $748 → $1.3k → $1.2k → $1.9k → $2.2k (still earning) → $3.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Incremental + Romance: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 146
Bottom 30% $597 (exactly $597)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,970)
Top 5% $149k (exactly $148,574)
Developers, 2 yr 146
Released games 522
Announced 134
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $1.99

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 310% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
Romance
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Incremental; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Dating Sim, Simulation
Price point
$1.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $1.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 8,708 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $140k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 137 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Incremental with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds15 devs · median $11k · 12 announced
  2. + OtomeStrong odds12 devs · median $7.0k · 11 announced
  3. + Martial ArtsFair13 devs · median $6.1k · 15 announced
  4. + FarmingFair21 devs · median $5.9k · 23 announced
  5. + Dynamic NarrationFair19 devs · median $4.0k · 14 announced
  6. + MiningFair141 devs · median $3.9k · 207 announced
  7. + Souls-likeFair9 devs · median $3.9k · 10 announced
  8. + Arena ShooterFair15 devs · median $3.5k · 20 announced
  9. + Dating SimFair140 devs · median $3.1k · 136 announced
  10. + UndergroundFair27 devs · median $3.0k · 35 announced
  11. + LootFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  12. + SupernaturalFair33 devs · median $2.4k · 35 announced

All 188 pairs on the Incremental page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Summer Clover older $17.99 9,062 97% 272k $4.9M (exactly $4,890,761) Connection
Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate $14.00 3,275 95% 98k $1.4M (exactly $1,375,500) Xso
1 to 1 humanoid edible toys older $7.99 2,420 92% 73k $580k (exactly $580,074) 汉谟拉比炒面, 我的屁是香哒
恋爱吗?我家猫会后空翻 $9.99 1,508 96% 45k $452k (exactly $451,948) 光循花火工作室
Midnight Paradise $17.99 658 88% 20k $355k (exactly $355,123) Lewdlab
恋爱关系/Romance older $3.99 2,480 84% 74k $297k (exactly $296,856) AFOG
Dreamlike Love with Seira older $6.99 1,377 98% 41k $289k (exactly $288,757) るび様崇める会
Growing Things Up - Season 1 $12.99 707 91% 21k $276k (exactly $275,518) King, BLANQ
Souper Game $14.99 550 78% 17k $247k (exactly $247,335) SinBeans Studio
Her World older $14.99 467 96% 14k $210k (exactly $210,010) TALESSHOP Co., Ltd.
万词破 - 单词女友 $14.99 448 89% 13k $201k (exactly $201,466) 万词破学游组
Only You $6.99 719 94% 22k $151k (exactly $150,774) 忘雪社
Mystery Lover:Nonexistent Memories $13.99 354 94% 11k $149k (exactly $148,574) Never Knows Best
WANDERER: Broken Bed $14.99 314 65% 9.4k $141k (exactly $141,206) TopHouse Studio
Moka Love Relive♪ $13.99 175 93% 5.3k $73k (exactly $73,448) Riot-Cryo

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