Games › Incremental › Incremental + Underwater
Should I ship an Underwater Incremental game?
Incremental + Underwater
Of 45 developers who shipped an Underwater 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.. 39 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×278 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 39 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) |
| Top 25% | $7.4k (exactly $7,403) |
| Top 5% | $175k (exactly $174,680) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 67 |
| Announced | 39 |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply 185% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Underwater
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Incremental; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Economy, Simulation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 5,113 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Incremental with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + OtomeStrong odds
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + MiningFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + LootFair
- + SupernaturalFair
Comparable games
Chillquarium 2023 · $1.4M 
Insaniquarium Deluxe 2006 · $958k 
Scale the Depths 2026 · $564k 
Aquarium Designer 2021 · $325k 
Behind Glass: Aquarium Simulator 2025 · $175k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Chillquarium | older | $5.99 | 7,780 92% | 233k | $1.4M (exactly $1,398,066) | Ben Reber |
| | Insaniquarium Deluxe | older | $4.99 | 6,398 96% | 192k | $958k (exactly $957,781) | PopCap Games, Inc. |
| | Scale the Depths | $9.99 | 1,881 88% | 56k | $564k (exactly $563,736) | Glass Gecko Games | |
| | Aquarium Designer | older | $9.99 | 1,086 84% | 33k | $325k (exactly $325,474) | Sigur Studio |
| | Behind Glass: Aquarium Simulator | $14.99 | 390 95% | 12k | $175k (exactly $175,383) | BitBros Inc | |
 | Fantasy Aquarium | $6.99 | 833 79% | 25k | $175k (exactly $174,680) | MOON SCAPE | |
 | Captain Whiskers: Incremental Seas | $5.99 | 886 85% | 27k | $159k (exactly $159,214) | Happy Universe Studios | |
 | Joyquarium | $5.99 | 475 90% | 14k | $85k (exactly $85,358) | Easyfun Studio | |
 | Idlequarium | $5.99 | 231 75% | 6.9k | $42k (exactly $41,511) | NutsX | |
 | Desktop Fishes | $5.99 | 128 82% | 3.8k | $23k (exactly $23,002) | Daniel Santalla | |
 | Kraken Cleaning | $5.99 | 92 86% | 2.8k | $17k (exactly $16,532) | Luka Works | |
 | Pupple Pop | $4.99 | 110 85% | 3.3k | $16k (exactly $16,467) | GrindWill Labs | |
 | Lofi aquarium | $5.99 | 87 77% | 2.6k | $16k (exactly $15,634) | LitheGame |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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