Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Animals

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Animal Combat game?

Combat + Animals

Only 18 developers shipped an Animal Combat game 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, King of Bones, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 85 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 16 developers shipped in the last year and 85 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 85 announced, ×5.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Animals
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.1k → $240 (still earning) → $360 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Animals: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $4.3k (exactly $4,316)
Top 5% $76k (exactly $75,745)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 29
Announced 85
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 700% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 28%, 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.

Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Animals
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Combat; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 1990's, 2D, Cartoony
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 441 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $420, 1 in 4 over $4.3k, 1 in 20 over $75k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 85 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds14 devs · median $15k · 12 announced
  2. + 4XFair32 devs · median $3.8k · 48 announced
  3. + TypingFair20 devs · median $2.2k · 26 announced
  4. + VampiresFair54 devs · median $1.9k · 64 announced
  5. + SnowFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 24 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair51 devs · median $599 · 61 announced
  7. + Match 3Long shot13 devs · median $359 · 16 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds32 devs · median $55k · 85 announced
  9. + Political SimPoor odds14 devs · median $49k · 22 announced
  10. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds21 devs · median $31k · 47 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds23 devs · median $19k · 45 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds52 devs · median $16k · 90 announced

All 248 pairs on the Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

King of Bones 2025 · $76k Descending The Woods 2024 · EA · $63k Kao the Kangaroo (2000 re-release) 2023 · $24k Heritage 2026 · $13k Atomic Owl 2025 · $12k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
King of Bones $7.99 316 85% 9.5k $76k (exactly $75,745) Gluten Free Games
Descending The Woods · EA older $18.99 111 47% 3.3k $63k (exactly $63,237) AIONWARE LTD
Kao the Kangaroo (2000 re-release) older $1.99 397 73% 12k $24k (exactly $23,701) Tate Multimedia
Heritage $9.99 44 72% 1.3k $13k (exactly $13,187) Big Three Games
Atomic Owl $12.99 30 90% 900 $12k (exactly $11,691) Monster Theater
Animalistic Worlds older $9.99 24 100% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) NinjaChicle
Unit Down Charge $9.99 17 100% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) Randy Becker
Mutants Ate My Carrots $11.99 12 100% 360 $4.3k (exactly $4,316) Animatic Vision
Fish Slayer $3.99 11 100% 330 $1.3k (exactly $1,317) easymemo(悬厘）, deathywings
BARKO $6.00 3 100% 90 $540 (exactly $540) Federico Giarratano
Rockoon $3.00 5 100% 150 $450 (exactly $450) Rockoon Team
Prowl · EA $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) jeoum
Primal Axis $11.99 1 100% 30 $360 (exactly $360) Ásgeir Jónasson

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