The niche at a glance

Incremental on Steam: 6,600 released games, 2,472 in the last 12 months, 3,717 announced and still unreleased. Of the 3,781 released between three years and 90 days ago, the median has 12 lifetime reviews. 46% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 12%. Incremental is a Steam store tag, applied by the developer and refined by players; a game carries several tags at once, so niche counts overlap and do not add up to the size of the Steam catalogue. Data as of .

What releases end up with

lifetime reviews · released 3 years ago to 90 days ago · failures included3,781 releases
p101
p252
median12
p7551
p90232
46% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $3.99 · 12% free-to-play

Releases per year

outcomes count only games released more than 90 days ago, anything newer has not had time to gather reviews
2019
95median 63 · 20% under 10 reviews
2020
178median 23 · 32% under 10 reviews
2021
462median 19 · 36% under 10 reviews
2022
495median 18 · 33% under 10 reviews
2023
559median 17 · 36% under 10 reviews
2024
1,060median 20 · 38% under 10 reviews
2025
1,309median 12 · 47% under 10 reviews
2026
2,167median 8 · 53% under 10 reviews · 865 too fresh

Incremental × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with Incremental at least 5 times · same window× setting× presentation
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
Incremental ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Job Simulator201011430.0% 15%–52%18.3%
cliché ×2.35121 d
Leaf it Alone
Supermarket Chaos
Data Center
Leaf it Alone · Supermarket Chaos · Data Center
Mining130903317.7% 12%–25%16.2%
cliché ×4.77104 d
(the) Gnorp Apologue
Upload Labs
Keep on Mining!
(the) Gnorp Apologue · Upload Labs · Keep on Mining!
Cleaning1312130under 2016.1%
cliché ×5.31108 d
Leaf it Alone
Supermarket Chaos
Carpet Cleaning Simulator
Leaf it Alone · Supermarket Chaos · Carpet Cleaning Simulator
Fishing75372417.3% 10%–27%15.1%
cliché ×2.44153 d
Fish to Dish: Idle Sushi
Cornerpond
Idle Fishing
Fish to Dish: Idle Sushi · Cornerpond · Idle Fishing
Capitalism2501312615.6% 12%–21%14.9%
cliché ×3.9991 d
Scritchy Scratchy
Bills Must Be Paid
Keep on Mining!
Scritchy Scratchy · Bills Must Be Paid · Keep on Mining!
Martial Arts161053under 2014.8%
ordinary ×0.59234 d
xiuzhen idle
WindStop Strategy
Immortal Family
xiuzhen idle · WindStop Strategy · Immortal Family
Crime3415617.6% 8%–34%13.6%
ordinary ×0.65184 d
Peeping Dorm Manager
1 to 1 humanoid edible toys
CLICKOLDING
Peeping Dorm Manager · 1 to 1 humanoid edible toys · CLICKOLDING
Psychological Horror194584013.9% 10%–19%13.2%
ordinary ×0.52121 d
Berry Bury Berry
Amarillo's Butt Slapper
Cats
Berry Bury Berry · Amarillo's Butt Slapper · Cats
Dystopian60321515.0% 8%–26%12.9%
ordinary ×0.70312 d
Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator
Crisis: The Third Way
FACEMINER
Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator · Crisis: The Third Way · FACEMINER
Dwarves8536under 2011.9%
cliché ×1.93163 d
Dwarf Eats Mountain
BORE BLASTERS
Dwarf Eats Mountain · BORE BLASTERS
Submarine8320under 2011.9%
ordinary ×1.04706 d
Fantasy Aquarium
Where Jellyfish 水母在哪里
Fantasy Aquarium · Where Jellyfish 水母在哪里
World War II8116under 2011.9%
ordinary ×0.37490 d
Click and Conquer
Burger
Click and Conquer · Burger
Dating Sim262673411.5% 8%–16%11.1%
ordinary ×1.5097 d
Banana
Summer Clover
Peeping Dorm Manager
Banana · Summer Clover · Peeping Dorm Manager
Alternate History46181813.0% 6%–26%11.1%
ordinary ×0.65191 d
Crisis: The Third Way
xiuzhen idle
FACEMINER
Crisis: The Third Way · xiuzhen idle · FACEMINER
War31151512.9% 5%–29%10.4%
ordinary ×0.4090 d
Sir, We Have an Orc Problem
How Many Dudes? The Roguelike Autobattler
Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite
Sir, We Have an Orc Problem · How Many Dudes? The Roguelike Autobattler · Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite
60 pairings cleared 20 releases; 38 more never reached 5 and are not listed. Compared against 6.6% for games that carry any tags at all.

About these numbers

“Adjusted” is the share pulled towards the catalogue with the weight of twenty releases: the top of any ranked list is optimistic (out of a hundred pairings one will show 35 % on 23 releases by luck alone), and the adjustment is what stops a small lucky group from leading. The band next to the raw share is the 95 % interval. This list is the same for everyone today; the second opinion is the description-based one on Pitch comps.