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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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
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
| 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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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