Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Animals

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Animal Survival game?

Survival + Animals

Only 12 developers shipped an Animal Survival 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, WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 52 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $10M, ×16491 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 52 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.8 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 52 announced, ×4.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Animals
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $76k → $1.8k (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Animals: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $3.0k (exactly $2,994)
Top 25% $76k (exactly $75,992)
Top 5% $10M (exactly $10,356,447)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 25
Announced 52
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 1000% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 89% positive over 18,699 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $3.0k, 1 in 4 over $75k, 1 in 20 over $10M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 52 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition $29.99 11,511 97% 345k $10M (exactly $10,356,447) eduweb
Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite $9.99 6,876 76% 206k $2.1M (exactly $2,060,737) Odd Dreams Digital
Cattails | Become a Cat! older $14.99 2,315 95% 69k $1.0M (exactly $1,041,056) Falcon Development
Paws - A Shelter 2 Game older $19.99 621 90% 19k $372k (exactly $372,414) Might and Delight
Bear Simulator older $14.99 501 86% 15k $225k (exactly $225,300) Farjay.com
Shelter 3 older $19.99 326 51% 9.8k $196k (exactly $195,502) Might and Delight
The WILDS · EA older $4.99 584 75% 18k $87k (exactly $87,425) Gluten Free Games
Huntsman $12.99 195 58% 5.9k $76k (exactly $75,992) OnTheHouse Studios
War Tortoise older $12.99 137 79% 4.1k $53k (exactly $53,389) Foursaken Media
Untamed: Life Of A Cougar older $7.99 131 61% 3.9k $31k (exactly $31,401) OCCA Studios
Moose Diver $4.99 48 83% 1.4k $7.2k (exactly $7,186) Lingon Studios
Tail and Chaos · EA $4.99 42 85% 1.3k $6.3k (exactly $6,287) Shnumi
Hamster, Eat, Run $4.99 20 95% 600 $3.0k (exactly $2,994) CocoZzzzzzzs
Dino-Ducks Mayhem · EA $14.88 4 100% 120 $1.8k (exactly $1,786) Duckosaurus Games
Underwater DuO $3.99 2 100% 60 $239 (exactly $239) Woodpecker
Rat Musou $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Studio Bing-Huan
Crown&Sword $3.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Renaluna Games

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