Games › City Builder › City Builder + Aliens
Should I ship an Alien City Builder?
City Builder + Aliens
Only 15 developers shipped an Alien City Builder in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Drill Core, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.6k, ×14 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2034 the market median. Revenue is up 135% on the market; 30 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.7k (exactly $2,696) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $22,420) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 30 |
| 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 up 135% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Aliens
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 3,236 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + LogicFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + RacingLong shot
- + RomePoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
The Universim 2024 · $7.6M 
Age of Wonders: Planetfall 2019 · $4.3M 
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™ 2009 · $1.8M 
Drill Core 2025 · $1.3M 
Exogate Initiative 2025 · $518k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Universim | older | $29.99 | 8,465 79% | 254k | $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) | Crytivo |
| | Age of Wonders: Planetfall | older | $29.99 | 4,758 80% | 143k | $4.3M (exactly $4,280,773) | Triumph Studios |
| | Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™ | older | $6.96 | 8,777 89% | 263k | $1.8M (exactly $1,832,638) | EA Los Angeles |
| | Drill Core | $19.99 | 2,130 84% | 64k | $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) | Hungry Couch Games | |
| | Exogate Initiative | $24.99 | 691 75% | 21k | $518k (exactly $518,043) | Xeno Bits | |
 | Spacebase Startopia | older | $39.99 | 375 57% | 11k | $450k (exactly $449,888) | Realmforge Studios |
 | Startopia | older | $6.99 | 844 91% | 25k | $177k (exactly $176,987) | My Little Planet Ltd, Mucky Foot Produc… (My Little Planet Ltd, Mucky Foot Productions Ltd) |
 | Five Nations | older | $19.99 | 251 81% | 7.5k | $151k (exactly $150,525) | SilverForge |
 | The Banished Vault | older | $24.99 | 189 78% | 5.7k | $142k (exactly $141,693) | Lunar Division |
 | Undead Inc. | older | $19.99 | 158 27% | 4.7k | $95k (exactly $94,753) | Rightsized Games |
 | Amberspire | $24.99 | 58 86% | 1.7k | $43k (exactly $43,483) | Lunar Division | |
 | Legends of Heropolis DX | $10.99 | 68 42% | 2.0k | $22k (exactly $22,420) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd | |
 | Death row inmates on the run 2--The Resistance | $6.99 | 86 55% | 2.6k | $18k (exactly $18,034) | zzzgame | |
 | Final Frontier Story | $8.99 | 48 72% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $12,946) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd | |
 | outpost4 | $3.99 | 94 72% | 2.8k | $11k (exactly $11,252) | BananaDogGames | |
 | The Diner at the End of the Galaxy | · EA | $9.99 | 32 59% | 960 | $9.6k (exactly $9,590) | General Interactive Co. |
 | Cult Leader Simulator | $17.99 | 16 50% | 480 | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) | Nhneno | |
 | Mycelium Conquest | $14.99 | 13 76% | 390 | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) | YCF Productions |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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