Do I ship it?

GamesIncrementalIncremental + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Incremental game?

Incremental + Zombies

Of 29 developers who shipped a Zombie 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.. 37 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $17k, ×28 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 37 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 37 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Incremental + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $776 → $3.0k → $896 → $359 (still earning) → $418 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Incremental + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $896 (exactly $896)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,397)
Top 5% $17k (exactly $17,405)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 77
Announced 37
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 75% on the market, supply 215% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
Zombies
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Strategy, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 366 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $900, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $17k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Incremental with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds15 devs · median $11k · 12 announced
  2. + OtomeStrong odds12 devs · median $7.0k · 11 announced
  3. + Martial ArtsFair13 devs · median $6.1k · 15 announced
  4. + FarmingFair21 devs · median $5.9k · 23 announced
  5. + Dynamic NarrationFair19 devs · median $4.0k · 14 announced
  6. + MiningFair141 devs · median $3.9k · 207 announced
  7. + Souls-likeFair9 devs · median $3.9k · 10 announced
  8. + Arena ShooterFair15 devs · median $3.5k · 20 announced
  9. + Dating SimFair140 devs · median $3.1k · 136 announced
  10. + UndergroundFair27 devs · median $3.0k · 35 announced
  11. + LootFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  12. + SupernaturalFair33 devs · median $2.4k · 35 announced

All 188 pairs on the Incremental page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Book of Demons older $24.99 8,010 91% 240k $6.0M (exactly $6,005,097) Thing Trunk
Her World older $14.99 467 96% 14k $210k (exactly $210,010) TALESSHOP Co., Ltd.
KUNKUN Defender older $2.99 822 97% 25k $74k (exactly $73,733) Seal
NecroAttack! older $9.99 241 72% 7.2k $72k (exactly $72,228) VirusSea
Fatal Countdown - immoral List of Desires older $10.99 197 76% 5.9k $65k (exactly $64,951) Secret Garden
Phantom Tentacle older $1.99 647 85% 19k $39k (exactly $38,626) LSP GAME
Escape From Zombie U:reloaded $15.99 62 62% 1.9k $30k (exactly $29,741) SodaAnimations
Furry Sex: Pirates 🏴‍☠️ older $6.99 104 67% 3.1k $22k (exactly $21,809) Furry Tails
翎之歌 $6.99 83 89% 2.5k $17k (exactly $17,405) YuKi制作组, 崩溃猛犸
Art of Destruction older $4.99 79 78% 2.4k $12k (exactly $11,826) ZHANG FAN
Yet Another Incremental Game (but this time about coding) · EA $7.99 39 71% 1.2k $9.3k (exactly $9,348) Raclette Games
Grimwatch: Mutation Protocol $19.00 11 100% 330 $6.3k (exactly $6,270) Blackmonkgaming
Cat Guardian $7.99 19 84% 570 $4.6k (exactly $4,554) Yaeegy
Tokyo Waning Moon $3.99 25 92% 750 $3.0k (exactly $2,992) Midnight Cupcakes
Operation: Outbreak Idle $4.99 19 89% 570 $2.8k (exactly $2,844) DeadLogics
NTR & Zombies $7.99 10 80% 300 $2.4k (exactly $2,397) Ntr & Zombies
Priceless Return $0.99 80 81% 2.4k $2.4k (exactly $2,376) Home
Text Escape: Doomsday City $3.99 18 61% 540 $2.2k (exactly $2,155) 齿轮游戏

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