Do I ship it?

GamesAdventureAdventure + Cats

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cat Adventure game?

Adventure + Cats

Of 280 developers who shipped a Cat Adventure 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.. 449 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×501 the market median. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 449 games are announced against 162 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 85% on the market, 449 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Adventure + Cats
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 280
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.9k → $2.4k → $1.7k → $2.4k → $2.0k → $2.7k → $1.2k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Adventure + Cats: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 280
Bottom 30% $478 (exactly $478)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,617)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,793)
Top 5% $238k (exactly $237,891)
Developers, 2 yr 280
Released games 851
Announced 449
Effort 4 / 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 up 85% 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.

Adventure
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Cats
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Puzzle
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 24,640 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 177 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 449 games are announced against 162 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SamuraiFair13 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  2. + FMVFair144 devs · median $39k · 151 announced
  3. + PinballFair11 devs · median $8.1k · 17 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair40 devs · median $6.3k · 50 announced
  5. + Escape RoomFair165 devs · median $2.2k · 151 announced
  6. + Mini GolfFair12 devs · median $2.2k · 11 announced
  7. + SportsFair228 devs · median $1.5k · 224 announced
  8. + GolfFair18 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair384 devs · median $1.2k · 420 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair33 devs · median $599 · 33 announced
  11. + Traditional RoguelikeFair89 devs · median $449 · 119 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds10 devs · median $561k · 7 announced

All 279 pairs on the Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stray older $29.99 157,579 97% 4.7M $142M (exactly $141,773,826) BlueTwelve Studio
Nine Sols older $29.99 40,138 94% 1.2M $36M (exactly $36,112,159) RedCandleGames
BattleBlock Theater® older $14.99 55,793 97% 1.7M $25M (exactly $25,090,112) The Behemoth
Night in the Woods older $19.99 17,760 94% 533k $11M (exactly $10,650,672) Infinite Fall
Little Kitty, Big City older $24.99 10,423 96% 313k $7.8M (exactly $7,814,123) Double Dagger Studio
Strange Horticulture older $15.99 14,867 94% 446k $7.1M (exactly $7,131,700) Bad Viking
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective older $29.99 6,429 97% 193k $5.8M (exactly $5,784,171) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
A Space for the Unbound older $19.99 7,161 97% 215k $4.3M (exactly $4,294,452) Mojiken
Epic Battle Fantasy 5 older $24.99 5,647 98% 169k $4.2M (exactly $4,233,556) Matt Roszak
NEKOPARA Vol. 3 older $9.99 11,153 96% 335k $3.3M (exactly $3,342,554) NEKO WORKs
My Little Puppy $24.99 4,435 97% 133k $3.3M (exactly $3,324,920) Dreamotion Inc.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales $59.99 1,687 78% 51k $3.0M (exactly $3,036,094) Square Enix, Claytechworks
Copycat $14.99 4,611 89% 138k $2.1M (exactly $2,073,567) Spoonful Of Wonder
Strange Antiquities $17.99 3,288 95% 99k $1.8M (exactly $1,774,534) Bad Viking
OneShot: World Machine Edition $9.99 5,349 98% 160k $1.6M (exactly $1,603,095) Future Cat LLC
Animal Shelter 2 $24.99 1,204 79% 36k $903k (exactly $902,639) Games Incubator
1666: Amsterdam · EA $29.99 784 63% 24k $705k (exactly $705,365) Panache Digital Games
Snacko $24.99 888 95% 27k $666k (exactly $665,734) Bluecurse Studios
Kemono Teatime $12.99 1,617 95% 49k $630k (exactly $630,145) Studio Lalala, Kotoneiro, WHO YOU
Bubsy 4D $19.99 777 92% 23k $466k (exactly $465,967) Fabraz

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