Do I ship it?

Games › Trading › Trading + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Trading Incremental game?

Trading + Incremental

Of 39 developers who shipped a paid Trading 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.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 80 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×4.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×322 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 80 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 80 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Trading + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $267 → $1.8k → $2.5k → $21k → $2.1k (still earning) → $1.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Trading + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $24,551)
Top 5% $153k (exactly $152,929)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 120
Announced 80
Effort 4 / 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 down 40% on the market, supply 290% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 52%, 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.

Trading
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Trading, Incremental; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Simulation, Automation
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 4,530 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 $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $24k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + MiningFair32 devs · median $12k · 33 announced
  2. + Score AttackFair13 devs · median $600 · 13 announced
  3. + MMORPGPoor odds6 devs · median $206k · 42 announced
  4. + Character CustomizationPoor odds26 devs · median $60k · 137 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds23 devs · median $47k · 84 announced
  6. + Co-opPoor odds24 devs · median $47k · 82 announced
  7. + FlightPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  8. + SportsPoor odds11 devs · median $34k · 14 announced
  9. + CollectathonPoor odds28 devs · median $30k · 65 announced
  10. + PhysicsPoor odds23 devs · median $27k · 71 announced
  11. + DrivingPoor odds23 devs · median $24k · 48 announced
  12. + LootPoor odds23 devs · median $23k · 60 announced

All 109 pairs on the Trading page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hero of the Kingdom 2013 · $857k Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator 2021 · $496k Hero of the Kingdom III 2018 · $370k Wolf of Stock Street 2021 · $289k Military Incremental Complex 2025 · $207k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hero of the Kingdom older $7.99 3,574 94% 107k $857k (exactly $856,688) Lonely Troops
Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator older $19.99 827 92% 25k $496k (exactly $495,952) Strange Scaffold
Hero of the Kingdom III older $9.99 1,234 78% 37k $370k (exactly $369,830) Lonely Troops
Wolf of Stock Street older $10.99 878 77% 26k $289k (exactly $289,477) 樹懶叫工作室, sloth gamer
Military Incremental Complex $9.99 692 82% 21k $207k (exactly $207,392) Space Kraken Studios
Bones and Coins $7.99 638 72% 19k $153k (exactly $152,929) Troyd Games
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
MMO98 $6.99 511 69% 15k $107k (exactly $107,157) BiteMe Games
Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 3 $6.99 476 91% 14k $100k (exactly $99,817) Lonely Troops
IDLE_DIRECTIVE $4.99 505 86% 15k $76k (exactly $75,598) Kevinfu510
Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG $14.99 144 84% 4.3k $65k (exactly $64,757) Wizard
Particul $1.99 769 80% 23k $46k (exactly $45,909) MILLION PIXELS
FeeBay Simulator $5.99 167 91% 5.0k $30k (exactly $30,010) Lake Country Games
Fun Park Simulator · EA $12.99 63 58% 1.9k $25k (exactly $24,551) Flugames

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