Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building 2D Platformer?

Building + 2D Platformer

Of 66 developers who shipped a Building 2D Platformer 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.. 110 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $330 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 37 developers shipped in the last year and 110 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 110 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 66
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $898 → $897 → $210 → $3.5k → $479 → $1.3k (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 66
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $330 (exactly $330)
Top 25% $3.5k (exactly $3,466)
Top 5% $44k (exactly $44,231)
Developers, 2 yr 66
Released games 244
Announced 110
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.49

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 45% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Building, 2D Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, City Builder
Price point
$5.49 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.49.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 2,773 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $330, 1 in 4 over $3.4k, 1 in 20 over $44k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 110 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Pedestrian 2020 · $3.1M Cluckmech Oasis 2024 · $922k Regions Of Ruin 2018 · $709k Luna's Fishing Garden 2021 · $405k Game Dev Story 2022 · $390k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Pedestrian older $19.99 5,173 96% 155k $3.1M (exactly $3,102,248) Skookum Arts
Cluckmech Oasis older $9.99 3,077 87% 92k $922k (exactly $922,177) BlackLight
Regions Of Ruin older $11.99 1,972 84% 59k $709k (exactly $709,328) Gameclaw Studio
Luna's Fishing Garden older $7.99 1,689 93% 51k $405k (exactly $404,853) Coldwild Games, illufinch
Game Dev Story older $8.99 1,445 89% 43k $390k (exactly $389,716) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Space Simulation Toolkit · EA older $24.99 500 80% 15k $375k (exactly $374,850) Pavel Kudinov
Contraption Maker older $12.99 922 92% 28k $359k (exactly $359,303) Kevin Ryan
BM General Hospital $7.99 1,368 86% 41k $328k (exactly $327,910) zzzgame
Dungeon Village older $8.99 829 88% 25k $224k (exactly $223,581) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
LEGO® Brawls older $9.99 663 78% 20k $199k (exactly $198,701) Red Games Co.
Demon Castle Story $12.99 257 77% 7.7k $100k (exactly $100,153) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Whimsy Bake＆Craft $7.99 357 64% 11k $86k (exactly $85,573) MOON SCAPE
Snacktorio $7.99 215 90% 6.5k $52k (exactly $51,536) ellraiser
Heian City Story $8.99 164 85% 4.9k $44k (exactly $44,231) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
仙之气 · EA $10.99 114 74% 3.4k $38k (exactly $37,586) 按键工坊
Yuma Nest · EA $19.99 57 89% 1.7k $34k (exactly $34,183) Piokou
Cavern Adventurers $8.99 117 48% 3.5k $32k (exactly $31,555) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Heroic Songs: the Remix! $16.99 56 92% 1.7k $29k (exactly $28,543) Emma Create
Legends of Heropolis DX $10.99 68 42% 2.0k $22k (exactly $22,420) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd

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