Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + City Builder
Should I ship a City Builder Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + City Builder
Of 28 developers who shipped a City Builder Action-Adventure 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.. 69 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2675 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 69 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $750 (exactly $750) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 76 |
| Announced | 69 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Action-Adventure, City Builder; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Building
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 14,169 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + BikesFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MotorbikeFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Time AttackLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time 2025 · $21M 
Smalland: Survive the Wilds 2024 · $8.5M 
Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure 2025 · $1.7M 
Gord 2023 · $1.2M 
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising 2022 · $933k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time | $59.99 | 11,771 91% | 353k | $21M (exactly $21,184,269) | LEVEL5 Inc. | |
| | Smalland: Survive the Wilds | older | $34.99 | 8,086 82% | 243k | $8.5M (exactly $8,487,874) | Max Ent Games Ltd |
| | Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure | $29.99 | 1,867 82% | 56k | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) | Massive Miniteam | |
| | Gord | older | $49.99 | 809 53% | 24k | $1.2M (exactly $1,213,257) | Covenant.dev |
| | Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising | older | $14.99 | 2,075 85% | 62k | $933k (exactly $933,128) | NatsumeAtari |
 | Super Dungeon Maker | older | $19.99 | 388 82% | 12k | $233k (exactly $232,684) | FIRECHICK |
 | Legends of Ellaria | older | $9.99 | 752 55% | 23k | $225k (exactly $225,374) | Larkon Studio |
 | Overthrown | $24.99 | 255 55% | 7.7k | $191k (exactly $191,174) | Brimstone | |
 | HammerHelm | older | $9.99 | 334 76% | 10k | $100k (exactly $100,100) | SuperSixStudios |
 | Smelter | older | $19.99 | 165 64% | 5.0k | $99k (exactly $98,950) | X PLUS Co., Ltd. |
 | Kingdom's Return: Time-Eating Fruit and the Ancient Monster | $14.99 | 90 52% | 2.7k | $40k (exactly $40,473) | INTI CREATES CO., LTD. | |
 | The Economy Bros | $19.99 | 56 82% | 1.7k | $34k (exactly $33,583) | Devin Carlson | |
 | The Colony 2044 | · EA | $9.99 | 32 59% | 960 | $9.6k (exactly $9,590) | Nexrage Studios |
 | Bober Constructions | $9.99 | 30 70% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | Simplicity Games | |
 | Kity Builder | $7.99 | 36 94% | 1.1k | $8.6k (exactly $8,629) | Sambero, irx99, YerayToledano, Juan Hust | |
 | Climber Girl | $7.99 | 19 36% | 570 | $4.6k (exactly $4,554) | AlterLab Development | |
 | Happy Piggy | $9.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | Gamesforgames |
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.