Do I ship it?

GamesSouls-likeSouls-like + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Souls-like?

Souls-like + Incremental

Only 9 developers shipped an Incremental Souls-like in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Desktop Defender, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 10 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.9k, ×2.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 1570% on the market; 10 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 1570% on the market, 10 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Souls-like + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Souls-like + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $360 (exactly $360)
Median $3.9k (exactly $3,892)
Top 25% $97k (exactly $96,856)
Top 5% $263k (exactly $263,023)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 34
Announced 10
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 1570% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 35%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Souls-like
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Souls-like, Incremental
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $4.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 6,937 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $3.9k, 1 in 4 over $96k, 1 in 20 over $260k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 4 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 10 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimStrong odds17 devs · median $34k · 8 announced
  2. + Visual NovelFair25 devs · median $27k · 17 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair13 devs · median $22k · 17 announced
  4. + JRPGFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  5. + PsychologicalFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair17 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerLong shot49 devs · median $776 · 46 announced
  8. + Score AttackLong shot18 devs · median $599 · 21 announced
  9. + WarPoor odds8 devs · median $451k · 22 announced
  10. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds12 devs · median $88k · 21 announced
  11. + RomancePoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 16 announced
  12. + RobotsPoor odds12 devs · median $32k · 19 announced

All 122 pairs on the Souls-like page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Desktop Defender $4.99 1,757 92% 53k $263k (exactly $263,023) Conradical Games
Scarlet Skips $4.99 1,310 78% 39k $196k (exactly $196,107) Yerk Games
Lumberjacked $4.99 647 83% 19k $97k (exactly $96,856) Inner Realm Studios, Dumb Duck Games
Gachi Heroes older $0.99 1,708 93% 51k $51k (exactly $50,728) GachiSoft
With Your Coworker $0.99 1,220 82% 37k $36k (exactly $36,234) 搖滾冰塊
Save the Reactor older $4.99 126 95% 3.8k $19k (exactly $18,862) Hypnohead
Slime Clicker $4.99 26 92% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) Kyiv Indie Titans
Stayhome Simulator older $0.99 104 78% 3.1k $3.1k (exactly $3,089) Two Inc
Shattered Dreams: that one time when all my applications got rejected, so I started my own company. My life became an idle / clicker game where I must increase all incremental values and squeeze my employees for every last bit of soul they have left. older $4.99 19 68% 570 $2.8k (exactly $2,844) Rainy Parts
Idle Battle RPG older $3.99 20 50% 600 $2.4k (exactly $2,394) roflinka games
Idle RPG $6.99 4 25% 120 $839 (exactly $839) Repeat Games
Arena $2.00 6 100% 180 $360 (exactly $360) 30 Minute Games
Stock Shock $2.99 4 100% 120 $359 (exactly $359) めてお
Time Assassin $0.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) 0cd studio

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