Do I ship it?

Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Mining

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mining Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Mining

Of 61 developers who shipped a Mining 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.. 117 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×1002 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 117 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 117 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Mining
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 61
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.9k → $13k → $4.3k → $14k → $718 → $2.3k → $598 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Mining: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 61
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $718 (exactly $718)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,547)
Top 5% $629k (exactly $629,115)
Developers, 2 yr 61
Released games 144
Announced 117
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 10% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Mining
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Mining; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 8,424 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $720, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $620k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 117 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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

Hidden Deep 2022 · EA · $3.2M Wall World 2023 · $2.4M TerraTech Worlds 2024 · EA · $1.8M AETHUS 2026 · $1.2M Return from Core 2025 · $826k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hidden Deep · EA older $24.99 4,293 76% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,218,462) Cogwheel Software
Wall World older $6.99 11,353 90% 341k $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) Alawar
TerraTech Worlds · EA older $29.99 2,027 62% 61k $1.8M (exactly $1,823,692) Payload Studios
AETHUS $19.99 2,030 94% 61k $1.2M (exactly $1,217,391) Pawsmonaut Games
Return from Core $16.99 1,620 75% 49k $826k (exactly $825,714) 顽核社 FuncoreClub
Orebound · EA $24.99 945 77% 28k $708k (exactly $708,466) Emberforge
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
UnderMine 2 · EA $19.99 828 75% 25k $497k (exactly $496,552) Thorium
Prodigal older $14.99 584 91% 18k $263k (exactly $262,625) Colorgrave
9th Dawn III older $15.99 501 87% 15k $240k (exactly $240,330) Valorware
Goblin Company $9.99 282 81% 8.5k $85k (exactly $84,515) BitBorne Studio
DigDigDrill $3.99 607 95% 18k $73k (exactly $72,658) Toorai
The Black Ice · EA $14.99 147 77% 4.4k $66k (exactly $66,106) RED CRAB GAMES, Antelus Games
Cosmodrill $9.99 169 75% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,649) Morse Morse Games
Pet Lands $14.99 47 46% 1.4k $21k (exactly $21,136) Tbjbu2, Adria Martinez Exposito

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