Games › Economy › Economy + Adventure
Should I ship an Adventure Economy game?
Economy + Adventure
Of 144 developers who shipped an Adventure Economy 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.. 337 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.5k, ×5.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $510; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2154 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 337 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $505 (exactly $505) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.5k (exactly $3,471) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $34,183) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,352,923) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 144 |
| Released games | 398 |
| Announced | 337 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 75% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Economy, Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Sandbox
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 73,654 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $510. 6 in 10 of the 62 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 337 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + ScienceFair
- + MiningFair
- + LootFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + God GameFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
Comparable games
Euro Truck Simulator 2 2012 · $454M 
American Truck Simulator 2016 · $99M 
Jurassic World Evolution 2018 · $65M 
Last Oasis 2020 · EA · $18M 
Game Dev Tycoon 2013 · $12M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Euro Truck Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 756,984 97% | 23M | $454M (exactly $453,963,305) | SCS Software |
| | American Truck Simulator | older | $19.99 | 165,692 97% | 5.0M | $99M (exactly $99,365,492) | SCS Software |
| | Jurassic World Evolution | older | $44.99 | 48,311 87% | 1.4M | $65M (exactly $65,205,357) | Frontier Developments |
| | Last Oasis | · EA older | $29.99 | 20,443 63% | 613k | $18M (exactly $18,392,567) | Donkey Crew |
| | Game Dev Tycoon | older | $9.99 | 40,312 95% | 1.2M | $12M (exactly $12,081,506) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
 | Derail Valley | · EA older | $39.99 | 9,442 96% | 283k | $11M (exactly $11,327,567) | Altfuture |
 | Gold Mining Simulator | older | $19.99 | 15,132 72% | 454k | $9.1M (exactly $9,074,660) | Code Horizon |
 | The Bazaar | $19.99 | 14,931 70% | 448k | $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) | Tempo | |
 | Transport Fever | older | $29.99 | 9,278 82% | 278k | $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) | Urban Games |
 | The Guild 3 | older | $29.99 | 7,120 60% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) | Purple Lamp, GolemLabs |
 | Longvinter | $19.99 | 6,951 68% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) | Uuvana Studios | |
 | Ratopia | $22.00 | 4,639 87% | 139k | $3.1M (exactly $3,061,740) | Cassel Games | |
 | A Game About Digging A Hole™ | $4.99 | 18,785 89% | 564k | $2.8M (exactly $2,812,114) | DoubleBee | |
 | Shelldiver | $4.99 | 16,806 98% | 504k | $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) | Gagonfe | |
 | Recycling Center Simulator | $19.99 | 2,594 84% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,555,622) | Balas Games | |
 | House of Legacy | · EA | $14.99 | 3,269 84% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,470,069) | S3 Studio |
 | Low-Budget Repairs | $19.99 | 2,256 66% | 68k | $1.4M (exactly $1,352,923) | Gray2RGB | |
 | The Spotter: Dig or Die | $12.99 | 1,792 84% | 54k | $698k (exactly $698,342) | Puppyroar Games | |
 | Restore Your Island | $12.99 | 1,631 77% | 49k | $636k (exactly $635,601) | Paiband Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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