Do I ship it?

Games › Mining › Mining + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mining Arcade game?

Mining + Arcade

Of 91 developers who shipped a Mining 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.. 125 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 360% on the market; 125 games are announced against 70 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 360% on the market, 125 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Mining + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 91
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $239 → $300 → $90 → $718 → $3.0k → $4.0k (still earning) → $4.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Mining + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 91
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,246)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $13,772)
Top 5% $334k (exactly $333,866)
Developers, 2 yr 91
Released games 154
Announced 125
Effort 4 / 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 up 360% on the market, supply 220% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Mining
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Mining, Arcade; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Idler, Resource Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Minimalist
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 24,892 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $330k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 125 games are announced against 70 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Mining with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FarmingStrong odds18 devs · median $22k · 15 announced
  2. + TradingFair32 devs · median $12k · 33 announced
  3. + DwarvesFair17 devs · median $9.6k · 26 announced
  4. + Tower DefenseFair33 devs · median $6.3k · 45 announced
  5. + EconomyFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  6. + AutomationFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  7. + Turn-Based StrategyFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair141 devs · median $3.9k · 207 announced
  9. + NatureFair42 devs · median $2.4k · 49 announced
  10. + IdlerFair136 devs · median $2.3k · 185 announced
  11. + CollectathonFair63 devs · median $2.1k · 53 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair36 devs · median $1.9k · 39 announced

All 91 pairs on the Mining page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Keep on Mining! 2025 · $1.2M To The Core 2023 · $1.2M A Game About Feeding A Black Hole 2025 · $727k Space Rock Breaker 2025 · $419k Rock Bottom 2026 · $419k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Keep on Mining! $4.99 8,300 93% 249k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) EagleEye Games
To The Core older $7.99 5,087 92% 153k $1.2M (exactly $1,219,354) SomethingExtra
A Game About Feeding A Black Hole $6.99 3,467 88% 104k $727k (exactly $727,030) Aarimous, Thornity
Space Rock Breaker $2.99 4,671 96% 140k $419k (exactly $418,989) WAKA WAKA
Rock Bottom $7.99 1,747 94% 52k $419k (exactly $418,756) Logan Games
Keep on Mining! - Worlds $6.99 1,899 80% 57k $398k (exactly $398,220) EagleEye Games
Dwarf Eats Mountain $9.99 1,114 80% 33k $334k (exactly $333,866) Green Wizard
Sludgineers $6.99 1,579 87% 47k $331k (exactly $331,116) Snickerdoodle Games, Funk Games
BORE BLASTERS older $9.99 709 80% 21k $212k (exactly $212,487) 8BitSkull
Crypto Mining Simulator older $4.99 1,419 65% 43k $212k (exactly $212,424) Satosha Nakamoti
Hole Is Mine $7.99 741 90% 22k $178k (exactly $177,618) Incrementalist
You Know The Drill $4.99 1,022 92% 31k $153k (exactly $152,993) ludokai
Rock Crusher $6.99 352 84% 11k $74k (exactly $73,814) Mini Fun Games

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