Games › Strategy › Strategy + Incremental
Should I ship an Incremental Strategy game?
Strategy + Incremental
Of 785 developers who shipped an Incremental Strategy 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.. 1,127 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 330% on the market; 1,127 games are announced against 595 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,197) |
| Top 25% | $8.2k (exactly $8,178) |
| Top 5% | $207k (exactly $207,392) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 785 |
| Released games | 1,797 |
| Announced | 1,127 |
| 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 up 330% on the market, supply 180% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Incremental; 5 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
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 61,365 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 279 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,127 games are announced against 595 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Cookie Clicker 2021 · $13M 
Shelldiver 2025 · $2.5M 
Dragon Cliff 2018 · $2.3M 
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 |
| | Shelldiver | $4.99 | 16,806 98% | 504k | $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) | Gagonfe | |
| | Dragon Cliff | older | $9.99 | 7,679 88% | 230k | $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) | Meta Interaction |
| | 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 | |
 | Peeping Dorm Manager | older | $10.99 | 6,206 92% | 186k | $2.0M (exactly $2,046,118) | HornyDoge |
 | Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator | $12.99 | 5,191 92% | 156k | $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) | Aluba Van+ | |
 | (the) Gnorp Apologue | older | $6.99 | 9,613 94% | 288k | $2.0M (exactly $2,015,846) | Myco |
 | How Many Dudes? | $14.99 | 2,948 89% | 88k | $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) | Butterscotch Shenanigans | |
 | 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 | |
 | Sir, We Have an Orc Problem | $9.99 | 4,123 86% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,235,663) | Mumpitz Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | Cauldron | $14.99 | 1,678 92% | 50k | $755k (exactly $754,597) | SleepyDad Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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