Games › Automation › Automation + 2D Platformer
Should I ship a 2D Platformer Automation game?
Automation + 2D Platformer
Of 41 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer Automation 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.. 48 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 24 developers shipped in the last year and 48 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 5% | $34k (exactly $34,183) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 41 |
| Released games | 88 |
| Announced | 48 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $2.99 |
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 155% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Automation
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Automation, 2D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RPG, Building
- Price point
- $2.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 1,036 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. Nearly all of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Automation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + Female ProtagonistStrong odds
- + Open World Survival CraftFair
- + HorrorFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + Class-BasedFair
- + MiningFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + FishingFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
Comparable games
Smack Studio 2024 · $235k 
Arcane Trigger 2025 · $98k 
Land Of Idyllic Beauty 2024 · EA · $80k 
Bots Are Stupid 2022 · $63k 
Snacktorio 2026 · $52k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Smack Studio | older | $14.99 | 522 85% | 16k | $235k (exactly $234,743) | ThirdPixel Interactive |
| | Arcane Trigger | $8.99 | 363 85% | 11k | $98k (exactly $97,901) | MiniWhale | |
| | Land Of Idyllic Beauty | · EA older | $11.99 | 222 83% | 6.7k | $80k (exactly $79,853) | Neo |
| | Bots Are Stupid | older | $12.99 | 161 77% | 4.8k | $63k (exactly $62,742) | Leander Edler-Golla |
| | Snacktorio | $7.99 | 215 90% | 6.5k | $52k (exactly $51,536) | ellraiser | |
 | Yuma Nest | · EA | $19.99 | 57 89% | 1.7k | $34k (exactly $34,183) | Piokou |
 | Erotic Clicker | $5.99 | 141 71% | 4.2k | $25k (exactly $25,338) | Ero Echo Studio | |
 | Poop Clicker | older | $0.99 | 725 76% | 22k | $22k (exactly $21,532) | Serge Kornew |
 | Meet me at NooN | older | $9.99 | 55 100% | 1.7k | $16k (exactly $16,484) | Pandaroo Interactive |
 | Droneboi: Conquest | older | $8.99 | 42 73% | 1.3k | $11k (exactly $11,327) | Rizen Planet Studios |
 | 多元守卫者 Diverse Defenders | $4.99 | 34 97% | 1.0k | $5.1k (exactly $5,090) | 寂静四周 | |
 | Wuwei Cultivation | $1.50 | 107 86% | 3.2k | $4.8k (exactly $4,815) | 程序员小灰 | |
 | Priceless Return | $0.99 | 80 81% | 2.4k | $2.4k (exactly $2,376) | Home | |
 | Girls vs Goblins | $2.99 | 19 73% | 570 | $1.7k (exactly $1,704) | Maiden Realm | |
 | FLOWORKS | · EA | $7.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) | QUENCH FORGE |
 | 挂到1000级-Idle to level 1000 | $3.99 | 13 69% | 390 | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) | MagicJellyGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.