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Should I ship a Minigames Arcade game?
Arcade + Minigames
Of 57 developers who shipped a Minigames 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.. 65 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 65 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,336) |
| Top 25% | $8.3k (exactly $8,266) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,334,066) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 57 |
| Released games | 177 |
| Announced | 65 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 up 65% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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, Minigames; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Local Multiplayer
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 15,536 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | UFO 50 | $24.99 | 7,134 94% | 214k | $5.3M (exactly $5,348,360) | Mossmouth | |
| | Rift of the NecroDancer | $19.99 | 5,844 93% | 175k | $3.5M (exactly $3,504,647) | Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Studios I… (Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Studios Inc.) | |
| | GigaBash | older | $24.99 | 1,951 94% | 59k | $1.5M (exactly $1,462,665) | Passion Republic Games |
| | Trials Evolution: Gold Edition | older | $19.99 | 2,253 74% | 68k | $1.4M (exactly $1,351,124) | Redlynx Ltd, Ubisoft Shanghaï |
| | LEGO® Party! | $39.99 | 1,112 87% | 33k | $1.3M (exactly $1,334,066) | SMG Studio | |
| | FlatOut | older | $7.49 | 5,870 91% | 176k | $1.3M (exactly $1,318,989) | Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Me… (Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
| | Rayman Raving Rabbids™ | older | $9.99 | 1,930 84% | 58k | $578k (exactly $578,421) | Ubisoft Bulgaria, Ubisoft Montpellier |
| | pureya | older | $5.99 | 2,242 96% | 67k | $403k (exactly $402,887) | Majorariatto |
| | Coin Pusher Casino | older | $12.50 | 950 84% | 29k | $356k (exactly $356,250) | TreeNutsGames |
| | My Singing Monsters Playground | older | $39.99 | 263 82% | 7.9k | $316k (exactly $315,521) | Big Blue Bubble |
| | Starlight Revolver | · EA | $12.99 | 404 54% | 12k | $157k (exactly $157,439) | Pahdo Labs |
| | Happy Endings | $6.99 | 429 86% | 13k | $90k (exactly $89,961) | Late Night Studios | |
| | Mythmatch | $19.99 | 124 98% | 3.7k | $74k (exactly $74,363) | Team Artichoke | |
| | Judofuri | $14.99 | 80 100% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,976) | pataya | |
| | Pibcremental | $5.99 | 177 89% | 5.3k | $32k (exactly $31,807) | Arcane Cabinet | |
| | Claire a la Mode | $14.99 | 49 93% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,035) | Colorgrave | |
| | Girls, I just want to get paid! | $3.99 | 183 82% | 5.5k | $22k (exactly $21,905) | LuminatiGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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