Do I ship it?

Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Cooking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cooking Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Cooking

Of 56 developers who shipped a Cooking 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.. 144 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $330k, ×540 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 144 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 144 announced, ×4.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Cooking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 56
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $270 → $1.5k → $3.2k → $9.9k → $19k → $3.8k → $1.2k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Cooking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 56
Bottom 30% $628 (exactly $628)
Median $3.8k (exactly $3,835)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,653)
Top 5% $339k (exactly $338,972)
Developers, 2 yr 56
Released games 121
Announced 144
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 30% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Action-Adventure
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Cooking
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Action-Adventure, Cooking; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Simulation
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 16,887 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $3.8k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $330k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair63 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair18 devs · median $6.7k · 19 announced
  3. + BikesFair11 devs · median $2.5k · 11 announced
  4. + TransportationFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  5. + MotorbikeFair9 devs · median $2.3k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingLong shot14 devs · median $360 · 16 announced
  7. + Time AttackLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 17 announced
  8. + Character Action GamePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  9. + MMORPGPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 116 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds49 devs · median $25k · 133 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds81 devs · median $24k · 135 announced
  12. + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds12 devs · median $17k · 26 announced

All 242 pairs on the Action-Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Black Desert 2017 · $19M SULFUR 2024 · EA · $7.2M Dungeon Munchies 2022 · $4.0M Ale & Tale Tavern 2024 · $3.9M Moonstone Island 2023 · $2.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Black Desert older $9.99 63,052 75% 1.9M $19M (exactly $18,896,684) Pearl Abyss
SULFUR · EA $24.99 9,641 87% 289k $7.2M (exactly $7,227,858) Perfect Random
Dungeon Munchies older $19.99 6,596 97% 198k $4.0M (exactly $3,955,621) maJAJa
Ale & Tale Tavern older $14.99 8,692 88% 261k $3.9M (exactly $3,908,792) Scienart Games
Moonstone Island older $19.99 4,063 84% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,436,581) Studio Supersoft
Saleblazers · EA older $29.99 1,974 78% 59k $1.8M (exactly $1,776,008) AIRSTRAFE INTERACTIVE
Aeruta $19.99 2,391 94% 72k $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883) FromDawn Games
Kitaria Fables older $19.99 1,253 73% 38k $751k (exactly $751,424) Twin Hearts, Secret Level Studios
Winter Survival $18.99 595 62% 18k $339k (exactly $338,972) DRAGO entertainment
Kiosk $3.99 2,547 88% 76k $305k (exactly $304,876) Vivi
Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse $16.99 543 72% 16k $277k (exactly $276,767) Frontside 180
SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure $14.99 517 70% 16k $232k (exactly $232,495) kopiforge
Project: Mist · EA $17.99 257 72% 7.7k $139k (exactly $138,703) Chicken Launcher
My Little Cafe Nightmare $8.99 210 90% 6.3k $57k (exactly $56,637) SethMadDev
Welcome to Planet E1d0r4d0! $8.99 119 68% 3.6k $32k (exactly $32,094) LuluGames
Zombie Diner Simulator 🥩 💀 $14.99 67 71% 2.0k $30k (exactly $30,130) Octo Games studio

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