Games › Strategy › Strategy + Animals
Should I ship an Animal Strategy game?
Strategy + Animals
Of 45 developers who shipped an Animal Strategy 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.. 141 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 $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×393 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 141 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.6k (exactly $3,591) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,390) |
| Top 5% | $247k (exactly $246,885) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 86 |
| Announced | 141 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 700% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Family Friendly, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 9,830 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 141 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Planet Zoo 2019 · $110M 
Prehistoric Kingdom 2022 · EA · $5.1M 
Let's Build a Zoo 2021 · $2.2M 
Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite 2026 · $2.1M 
Tooth and Tail 2017 · $1.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Planet Zoo | older | $44.99 | 81,191 90% | 2.4M | $110M (exactly $109,583,493) | Frontier Developments |
| | Prehistoric Kingdom | · EA older | $29.99 | 5,640 90% | 169k | $5.1M (exactly $5,074,308) | Blue Meridian |
| | Let's Build a Zoo | older | $19.99 | 3,722 89% | 112k | $2.2M (exactly $2,232,083) | Springloaded |
| | Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite | $9.99 | 6,876 76% | 206k | $2.1M (exactly $2,060,737) | Odd Dreams Digital | |
| | Tooth and Tail | older | $19.99 | 2,887 82% | 87k | $1.7M (exactly $1,731,334) | Pocketwatch Games |
 | Equilinox | older | $9.99 | 2,604 93% | 78k | $780k (exactly $780,419) | ThinMatrix |
 | Omelet You Cook | $14.99 | 1,523 97% | 46k | $685k (exactly $684,893) | Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose | |
 | Spirit of the Island | older | $14.99 | 1,191 69% | 36k | $536k (exactly $535,593) | 1M Bits Horde |
 | Beast Battle Simulator | older | $9.99 | 1,234 88% | 37k | $370k (exactly $369,830) | DOG HOGGLER |
 | S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster | older | $9.99 | 1,017 93% | 31k | $305k (exactly $304,795) | Kite Games |
 | Zoominoes | $14.99 | 549 91% | 16k | $247k (exactly $246,885) | Starlight Games inc. | |
 | Abra-Cooking-Dabra | $12.99 | 250 75% | 7.5k | $97k (exactly $97,425) | Door 407 | |
 | BioEden | $21.99 | 93 70% | 2.8k | $61k (exactly $61,352) | Broken Arms Games | |
 | Bean Beasts | $13.99 | 113 89% | 3.4k | $47k (exactly $47,426) | Anxious Noob | |
 | Exark | $14.99 | 99 73% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $44,520) | Robot Cat Limited | |
 | Mewseum: Masterpieces | $6.99 | 133 98% | 4.0k | $28k (exactly $27,890) | Climbing Goat Games | |
 | Slot or Not | $6.99 | 131 89% | 3.9k | $27k (exactly $27,471) | MakoTeam | |
 | Bean Meets Paw | $9.99 | 63 93% | 1.9k | $19k (exactly $18,881) | XINGXIAN NET |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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