Do I ship it?

Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Space Sim?

Space Sim + Incremental

Of 32 developers who shipped an Incremental Space Sim 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×200 the market median. Revenue is up 7070% on the market; 53 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 7070% on the market, 53 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Space Sim + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $60 → $1.3k → $898 (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Space Sim + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $4.1k (exactly $4,133)
Top 5% $125k (exactly $125,431)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 67
Announced 53
Effort 6 / 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 7075% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Space Sim, Incremental; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Strategy
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $5.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Top-Down, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $5.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,587 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.1k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Space Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DestructionFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair9 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  3. + Tactical RPGFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + WarFair34 devs · median $1.3k · 42 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorFair16 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  6. + SportsFair8 devs · median $479 · 9 announced
  7. + DiplomacyLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds18 devs · median $6.3k · 39 announced
  9. + Online Co-OpPoor odds18 devs · median $4.9k · 63 announced
  10. + Strategy RPGPoor odds8 devs · median $4.9k · 21 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds86 devs · median $4.6k · 213 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds42 devs · median $4.6k · 91 announced

All 114 pairs on the Space Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Galactic Mining Corp 2021 · $338k Vanguard Galaxy 2025 · EA · $152k Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite 2025 · $125k SYMMETRY 2018 · $53k Heliopedia 2021 · $30k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Galactic Mining Corp older $12.99 868 84% 26k $338k (exactly $338,260) Windybeard
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite $5.99 698 83% 21k $125k (exactly $125,431) RyanJakob
SYMMETRY older $11.99 147 53% 4.4k $53k (exactly $52,876) Sleepless Clinic
Heliopedia older $4.99 199 86% 6.0k $30k (exactly $29,790) Sokpop Collective
Dream House Cleaning $3.99 72 79% 2.2k $8.6k (exactly $8,618) ONLYGAMES S.R.L.
Galactic Simulator2: Stargate $5.99 42 78% 1.3k $7.5k (exactly $7,547) PcZ Games
Galactic Simulator $4.99 46 76% 1.4k $6.9k (exactly $6,886) PcZ Games
Aim in Space older $4.99 42 95% 1.3k $6.3k (exactly $6,287) Serhii Khramov, Davyd Moskalenko, Maksy… (Serhii Khramov, Davyd Moskalenko, Maksym Kanshin)
T. B. P. older $24.99 8 87% 240 $6.0k (exactly $5,998) Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich
Idle Fleet $3.99 41 82% 1.2k $4.9k (exactly $4,908) Idleforge Games
Holding Pattern $4.99 31 96% 930 $4.6k (exactly $4,641) Orange Acorn Games
Galactic Simulator 3 $6.99 21 100% 630 $4.4k (exactly $4,404) PcZ Games
Delos: Space Traffic Control $2.99 48 77% 1.4k $4.3k (exactly $4,306) hv
Desktop Colony $5.99 23 100% 690 $4.1k (exactly $4,133) Mechabit

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