Do I ship it?

GamesCraftingCrafting + Animals

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Animal Crafting game?

Crafting + Animals

Only 18 developers shipped an Animal Crafting 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, The Ranchers, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 59 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×653 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 59 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 59 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Crafting + Animals
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Crafting + Animals: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $360 (exactly $360)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $18,881)
Top 5% $410k (exactly $410,086)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 34
Announced 59
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.99

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 1600% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 24%, 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.

Crafting
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
Crafting; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Cooking, Life Sim
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,643 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $410k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 59 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds62 devs · median $15k · 65 announced
  2. + SportsFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair16 devs · median $17k · 24 announced
  4. + IdlerFair235 devs · median $1.7k · 338 announced
  5. + SolitaireFair12 devs · median $809 · 20 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds17 devs · median $174k · 39 announced
  7. + MMORPGPoor odds25 devs · median $111k · 155 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $90k · 50 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds160 devs · median $77k · 369 announced
  10. + WesternPoor odds13 devs · median $69k · 23 announced
  11. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds20 devs · median $44k · 25 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds17 devs · median $39k · 30 announced

All 200 pairs on the Crafting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Bear and Breakfast older $19.99 4,574 89% 137k $2.7M (exactly $2,743,028) Gummy Cat
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch older $29.99 874 62% 26k $786k (exactly $786,338) Aesir Interactive
Spirit of the Island older $14.99 1,191 69% 36k $536k (exactly $535,593) 1M Bits Horde
The Ranchers · EA $24.99 547 57% 16k $410k (exactly $410,086) The Ranchers
Happy Sheepies older $19.99 561 85% 17k $336k (exactly $336,432) Berker Games
Farm to Table · EA $14.99 645 91% 19k $290k (exactly $290,056) indieGiant
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge older $19.99 230 86% 6.9k $138k (exactly $137,931) Humble Reeds
Abra-Cooking-Dabra $12.99 250 75% 7.5k $97k (exactly $97,425) Door 407
Descending The Woods · EA older $18.99 111 47% 3.3k $63k (exactly $63,237) AIONWARE LTD
Fireside older $14.99 78 93% 2.3k $35k (exactly $35,077) Emergo Entertainment
Stay: Your Forever Pet! · EA $12.99 61 96% 1.8k $24k (exactly $23,772) Windup Minds
Bean Meets Paw $9.99 63 93% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,881) XINGXIAN NET
Cosmic Coop $7.99 32 78% 960 $7.7k (exactly $7,670) Omnivorian
Let's Café $9.99 17 100% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) Hurgle Studios LLC
Raccoons to Riches $10.99 10 100% 300 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Secret Scroll Software
Tame-a-goat-chi · EA $4.99 14 100% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) Rio Master
Dino-Ducks Mayhem · EA $14.88 4 100% 120 $1.8k (exactly $1,786) Duckosaurus Games

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