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Should I ship an Animal Arcade game?
Arcade + Animals
Of 45 developers who shipped an Animal Arcade 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, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 38 developers shipped in the last year and 95 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $3.3k (exactly $3,293) |
| Top 5% | $94k (exactly $94,406) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 67 |
| Announced | 95 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 445% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Arcade; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Character Customization
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Cute, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 9,270 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite 2026 · $2.1M 
Omelet You Cook 2026 · $685k 
The Elephant Collection 2023 · $325k 
MARSUPILAMI - HOOBADVENTURE 2021 · $258k 
Maze Mice 2025 · $94k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite | $9.99 | 6,876 76% | 206k | $2.1M (exactly $2,060,737) | Odd Dreams Digital | |
| | Omelet You Cook | $14.99 | 1,523 97% | 46k | $685k (exactly $684,893) | Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose | |
| | The Elephant Collection | older | $14.99 | 723 95% | 22k | $325k (exactly $325,133) | Wonderful Elephant (jmtb02) |
| | MARSUPILAMI - HOOBADVENTURE | older | $19.99 | 430 94% | 13k | $258k (exactly $257,871) | Ocellus Studio |
| | Maze Mice | $9.99 | 315 88% | 9.5k | $94k (exactly $94,406) | TrampolineTales | |
 | King of Bones | $7.99 | 316 85% | 9.5k | $76k (exactly $75,745) | Gluten Free Games | |
 | Slopecrashers | $17.99 | 82 93% | 2.5k | $44k (exactly $44,255) | byteparrot | |
 | Turn the Line! | · EA older | $13.99 | 59 79% | 1.8k | $25k (exactly $24,762) | Megatent Inc. |
 | Kao the Kangaroo (2000 re-release) | older | $1.99 | 397 73% | 12k | $24k (exactly $23,701) | Tate Multimedia |
 | TopplePOP: Bungee Blockbusters | · EA | $14.99 | 35 97% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $15,740) | ArkimA |
 | Horse Runner DX | $4.99 | 58 91% | 1.7k | $8.7k (exactly $8,683) | Mat Makes Games | |
 | Grizzy and the Lemmings - Crazy Party | $39.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $7.2k (exactly $7,198) | Balio Studio | |
 | Tail and Chaos | · EA | $4.99 | 42 85% | 1.3k | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) | Shnumi |
 | Unit Down Charge | $9.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Randy Becker |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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