Games › Visual Novel › Visual Novel + Incremental
Should I ship an Incremental Visual Novel?
Visual Novel + Incremental
Of 246 developers who shipped an Incremental Visual Novel 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.. 231 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×16 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $540. Revenue is up 105% on the market; 231 games are announced against 139 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,782) |
| Top 5% | $149k (exactly $148,574) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 246 |
| Released games | 681 |
| Announced | 231 |
| Effort | 2 / 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 105% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Visual Novel, Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Dating Sim, RPG
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 11,215 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 158 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 231 games are announced against 139 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Visual Novel with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + City BuilderStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + TrainsStrong odds
- + Souls-likeFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
Comparable games
Summer Clover 2024 · $4.9M 
Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate 2025 · $1.4M 
Chicken Police - Paint it RED! 2020 · $974k 
Sex, Secrets & Used Tech 2026 · $658k 
1 to 1 humanoid edible toys 2024 · $580k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Summer Clover | older | $17.99 | 9,062 97% | 272k | $4.9M (exactly $4,890,761) | Connection |
| | Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate | $14.00 | 3,275 95% | 98k | $1.4M (exactly $1,375,500) | Xso | |
| | Chicken Police - Paint it RED! | older | $19.99 | 1,624 94% | 49k | $974k (exactly $973,913) | The Wild Gentlemen |
| | Sex, Secrets & Used Tech | $16.99 | 1,291 85% | 39k | $658k (exactly $658,023) | WorkNite Games, 78Games | |
| | 1 to 1 humanoid edible toys | older | $7.99 | 2,420 92% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,074) | 汉谟拉比炒面, 我的屁是香哒 |
 | 恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 | $9.99 | 1,508 96% | 45k | $452k (exactly $451,948) | 光循花火工作室 | |
 | Handyman Legend | older | $6.99 | 2,066 89% | 62k | $433k (exactly $433,240) | SupaShinKen Studio |
 | Handyman Fantasy | $7.99 | 1,607 95% | 48k | $385k (exactly $385,198) | SupaShinKen Studio | |
 | Yogurt! | older | $4.99 | 2,542 75% | 76k | $381k (exactly $380,537) | 430Games, __Ja__ga__imo__ |
 | Midnight Paradise | $17.99 | 658 88% | 20k | $355k (exactly $355,123) | Lewdlab | |
 | Growing Things Up - Season 1 | $12.99 | 707 91% | 21k | $276k (exactly $275,518) | King, BLANQ | |
 | Souper Game | $14.99 | 550 78% | 17k | $247k (exactly $247,335) | SinBeans Studio | |
 | Female Anchor Next Door | $14.99 | 488 80% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,454) | 18cmSam, UVKen | |
 | Fallen Elf Freya | $9.99 | 683 85% | 20k | $205k (exactly $204,695) | Honey Rider | |
 | 万词破 - 单词女友 | $14.99 | 448 89% | 13k | $201k (exactly $201,466) | 万词破学游组 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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