Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Creature Collector

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Creature Collector Automation game?

Automation + Creature Collector

Of 71 developers who shipped a Creature Collector Automation 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.. 90 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.7k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×367 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 90 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 90 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Creature Collector
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 71
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $5.7k → $12k → $21k → $8.4k → $3.6k → $3.2k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Creature Collector: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 71
Bottom 30% $1.6k (exactly $1,620)
Median $3.7k (exactly $3,742)
Top 25% $46k (exactly $46,344)
Top 5% $230k (exactly $230,260)
Developers, 2 yr 71
Released games 106
Announced 90
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 20% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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
Automation, Creature Collector; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Simulation, Management
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 420,797 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.7k, median $3.7k, 1 in 4 over $46k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.7k. 7 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 90 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds36 devs · median $57k · 31 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistStrong odds27 devs · median $4.5k · 32 announced
  3. + Open World Survival CraftFair28 devs · median $307k · 37 announced
  4. + HorrorFair19 devs · median $8.0k · 29 announced
  5. + HistoricalFair26 devs · median $7.9k · 24 announced
  6. + UndergroundFair20 devs · median $7.4k · 32 announced
  7. + Class-BasedFair19 devs · median $6.6k · 22 announced
  8. + MiningFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  9. + Auto BattlerFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  10. + ProgrammingFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  11. + FishingFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  12. + Turn-Based TacticsFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced

All 135 pairs on the Automation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Palworld 2026 · $371M Maltese's Fluffy Onsen 2025 · $490k Atrio: The Dark Wild 2023 · $338k Your Big, Cute Monster Farm 2025 · $263k Cornerpond 2025 · $230k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Palworld $29.99 411,947 94% 12M $371M (exactly $370,628,716) Pocketpair
Maltese's Fluffy Onsen $5.99 2,727 94% 82k $490k (exactly $490,042) Sinkhole Studio, Moonlab Studio
Atrio: The Dark Wild older $19.99 563 78% 17k $338k (exactly $337,631) Isto Inc.
Your Big, Cute Monster Farm $7.99 1,097 78% 33k $263k (exactly $262,951) KaiPlay Studio
Cornerpond $2.99 2,567 97% 77k $230k (exactly $230,260) foolsroom
Tabletop Game Shop Simulator $12.99 480 84% 14k $187k (exactly $187,056) Ludogram, Knight Fever Games
XiuzhenWorld older $12.99 436 75% 13k $170k (exactly $169,909) Noforgetit
Batomon Showdown $14.99 327 87% 9.8k $147k (exactly $147,052) berrymint
Berserk B.I.T.S $6.99 667 81% 20k $140k (exactly $139,870) BerserkBoy Games
LurkBait Twitch Fishing older $7.00 548 87% 16k $115k (exactly $115,080) BLAMCAM Interactive
Loafing Town $6.99 531 85% 16k $111k (exactly $111,351) GoblinZz
Cultivation Magic World · EA $12.99 276 78% 8.3k $108k (exactly $107,557) DMG Studio
Time to Morp $19.99 178 79% 5.3k $107k (exactly $106,747) Team HalfBeard

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