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Should I ship an Incremental Tower Defense?
Tower Defense + Incremental
Of 118 developers who shipped an Incremental Tower Defense 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.. 188 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×264 the market median. Revenue is up 110% on the market; 188 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,077) |
| Top 25% | $5.9k (exactly $5,930) |
| Top 5% | $125k (exactly $125,431) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 118 |
| Released games | 200 |
| Announced | 188 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 110% on the market, supply 185% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Tower Defense, Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Idler, Roguelite
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 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 $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 11,919 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 188 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tower Defense with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DwarvesStrong odds
- + MiningFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + TanksFair
- + MechsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Gun CustomizationFair
- + LogicFair
- + On-Rails ShooterFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
Comparable games
Sir, We Have an Orc Problem 2026 · $1.2M 
Outhold 2025 · $381k 
Time Warpers 2020 · $296k 
Desktop Defender 2025 · $263k 
Zero Stress King: Idle Defense 2026 · $251k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sir, We Have an Orc Problem | $9.99 | 4,123 86% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,235,663) | Mumpitz Games | |
| | Outhold | $6.99 | 1,818 86% | 55k | $381k (exactly $381,235) | Tellus Games | |
| | Time Warpers | older | $19.99 | 493 82% | 15k | $296k (exactly $295,652) | Proton Studio Inc |
| | Desktop Defender | $4.99 | 1,757 92% | 53k | $263k (exactly $263,023) | Conradical Games | |
| | Zero Stress King: Idle Defense | $4.99 | 1,679 87% | 50k | $251k (exactly $251,346) | Pauloondra | |
 | Legacy of Defense | $7.99 | 545 72% | 16k | $131k (exactly $130,636) | Enter the Game Studios | |
 | Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite | $5.99 | 698 83% | 21k | $125k (exactly $125,431) | RyanJakob | |
 | Gnomes Garden | older | $14.99 | 262 87% | 7.9k | $118k (exactly $117,821) | Workroom7, Creobit |
 | Crownhold | $6.99 | 471 84% | 14k | $99k (exactly $98,769) | Tobias Mikula | |
 | Samawa Idle | older | $4.99 | 600 65% | 18k | $90k (exactly $89,820) | Samharia Studios |
 | Ancient Cultivatrix | $8.99 | 240 67% | 7.2k | $65k (exactly $64,728) | 五条虾仁(5 shrimps) | |
 | All Aboard! The Train Defense Express | $4.99 | 379 84% | 11k | $57k (exactly $56,736) | Likadev | |
 | PROFITS 2167: Planetary Resource Optimization & Freight Infrastructure Technician Simulator | · EA | $6.99 | 209 98% | 6.3k | $44k (exactly $43,827) | Simple Software Solutions |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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