Games › Adventure › Adventure + Trains
Should I ship a Train Adventure game?
Adventure + Trains
Of 46 developers who shipped a Train 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.. 95 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.0k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.9M, ×3029 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 95 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.0k (exactly $7,983) |
| Top 25% | $85k (exactly $84,515) |
| Top 5% | $1.9M (exactly $1,902,080) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 124 |
| Announced | 95 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 65% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Simulation, Open World
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 23,654 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 6 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SamuraiFair
- + FMVFair
- + PinballFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + SportsFair
- + GolfFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
Train Simulator Classic 2015 · $18M 
Derail Valley 2019 · EA · $11M 
Choo-Choo Charles 2022 · $9.8M 
Transport Fever 2016 · $8.3M 
Voidtrain 2025 · $7.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
| | Derail Valley | · EA older | $39.99 | 9,442 96% | 283k | $11M (exactly $11,327,567) | Altfuture |
| | Choo-Choo Charles | older | $19.99 | 16,292 91% | 489k | $9.8M (exactly $9,770,312) | Two Star Games |
| | Transport Fever | older | $29.99 | 9,278 82% | 278k | $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) | Urban Games |
| | Voidtrain | $29.99 | 8,713 73% | 261k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) | HypeTrain Digital | |
 | Maitetsu:Last Run!! | older | $34.99 | 4,425 97% | 133k | $4.6M (exactly $4,644,922) | Lose |
 | Train Sim World® 2 | older | $19.99 | 7,066 82% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,237,480) | Dovetail Games |
 | Train Sim World® 5 | $39.99 | 3,028 80% | 91k | $3.6M (exactly $3,632,692) | Dovetail Games | |
 | The Final Station | older | $14.99 | 6,739 88% | 202k | $3.0M (exactly $3,030,528) | DO MY BEST |
 | Train Sim World® 4 | older | $29.99 | 3,322 79% | 100k | $3.0M (exactly $2,988,803) | Dovetail Games |
 | Beholder: Conductor | $13.99 | 4,532 91% | 136k | $1.9M (exactly $1,902,080) | Alawar | |
 | Denshattack! | $19.99 | 2,910 98% | 87k | $1.7M (exactly $1,745,127) | Undercoders | |
 | Thomas & Friends™: Wonders of Sodor | $39.99 | 849 87% | 25k | $1.0M (exactly $1,018,545) | Dovetail Games | |
 | Loco Motive | $17.99 | 1,211 92% | 36k | $654k (exactly $653,577) | Robust Games | |
 | Locomoto | $24.99 | 579 90% | 17k | $434k (exactly $434,076) | Green Tile Digital | |
 | OxyRail | · EA | $14.99 | 949 80% | 28k | $427k (exactly $426,765) | OxygenTech Limited |
 | Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved | $19.99 | 435 93% | 13k | $261k (exactly $260,869) | Armonica LLC | |
 | Back in Service: a Metro Driver | · EA | $18.99 | 448 97% | 13k | $255k (exactly $255,226) | Dominik Vojta |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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