It’s always a surprise which independent game will become popular on Steam, but there’s usually at least one unexpected hit every month. Games like R.E.P.O., Peak, and RV There Yet? quickly gained over 100,000 players. A recent trend has been the rise of new idle games. While I haven’t usually enjoyed simple clicker games, these new ones feel different and more engaging. Many are created by individual developers, like VuVuu, who made the successful idle farming game Tiny Terraces. Now, VuVuu is revealing exactly how much money the game has earned.
How an idle game made $26,000 in its first month
Tiny Terraces is a relaxed farming game with a unique theme – it draws inspiration from the golems featured in the popular Minecraft mod, Thaumcraft. Released on Steam and mobile at the end of July, the game’s developer recently shared some interesting data, including first-month earnings and details about how they promoted the game.
Our primary approach involved consistently publishing short videos on YouTube – a total of 132 between August 2024 and 2025. These videos performed exceptionally well, reaching 1.1 million views. TikTok and Twitter also contributed significantly, each garnering over 300,000 views. Additionally, a demo trailer unexpectedly became very popular, earning 124,000 views and greatly increasing the game’s visibility.
The game had around 28,000 wishlists on Steam before it officially launched. The biggest increase in wishlists happened after the game’s demo was showcased at the February NextFest, a Steam event designed to help indie developers gain visibility.
So, I was really excited when Tiny Terraces finally hit Early Access on Steam on July 31st, and it was awesome to see over 5,000 people grabbed it right away! Then, on August 11th, they released it on mobile, and that added another $346 in sales between iOS and Android. Pretty cool launch overall, if I do say so myself!
Here are the numbers after the first month financials:
- Total gross sales: $26,799
- Net revenue after platform fees, taxes, and refunds: $17,363
- Steam refund rate: 4% in the first month (currently 6.5%), much lower than the Steam average of 10.8%
- Mobile sales contributed 16.8% of net revenue
Because only a limited number of players try games during Early Access – many prefer to wait for the finished version – the official launch has the potential to attract a much larger audience. This is especially true if the developer continues their successful marketing efforts.
Marketing is important throughout the entire game development process, not just after it’s finished. Starting to build awareness early – through things like development diaries or short videos, as VuVuu did with their YouTube Shorts – helps maintain interest and prevents your game from getting overlooked amidst the many new releases on Steam.
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2025-11-03 14:02