Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Point & Click

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Point & Click Automation game?

Automation + Point & Click

Of 140 developers who shipped a Point & Click 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.. 149 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 149 games are announced against 100 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 149 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Point & Click
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 140
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $1.8k → $1.3k → $824 → $564 → $538 → $756 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Point & Click: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 140
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $538 (exactly $538)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,537)
Top 5% $84k (exactly $83,895)
Developers, 2 yr 140
Released games 247
Announced 149
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 20% on the market, supply 145% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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
Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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
Automation, Point & Click; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Incremental, Simulation
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 7,681 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $540, 1 in 4 over $4.5k, 1 in 20 over $83k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 54 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 149 games are announced against 100 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Melvor Idle older $9.99 14,630 90% 439k $4.4M (exactly $4,384,611) Games by Malcs
Maltese's Fluffy Onsen $5.99 2,727 94% 82k $490k (exactly $490,042) Sinkhole Studio, Moonlab Studio
Plantera older $2.99 4,518 88% 136k $405k (exactly $405,265) VaragtP
miniBONG older $9.99 881 79% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) Game Star
Fracture Field $6.99 1,196 75% 36k $251k (exactly $250,801) Type Ten
Factory Town Idle older $4.99 1,232 90% 37k $184k (exactly $184,430) Erik Asmussen
Increlution · EA older $3.99 1,237 85% 37k $148k (exactly $148,069) Gniller
Diggin $6.99 635 80% 19k $133k (exactly $133,160) Longshot Studio
Milling machine simulator older $19.99 180 90% 5.4k $108k (exactly $107,946) Igor Frank, Ursa Masnec
MMO98 $6.99 511 69% 15k $107k (exactly $107,157) BiteMe Games
Carpet Cleaning Simulator $6.99 508 87% 15k $107k (exactly $106,528) daimaGAME
Alice's Gaze $3.99 770 91% 23k $92k (exactly $92,169) Starmoon Cat
Miseria $7.99 350 58% 11k $84k (exactly $83,895) Somnambulist Games
Desk Paws $5.99 463 86% 14k $83k (exactly $83,201) GinkgoGames
Legends of Wasteland $6.99 320 62% 9.6k $67k (exactly $67,104) 清友工作室
Sloppy Fields · EA $9.79 201 95% 6.0k $59k (exactly $59,034) PixelPanzone

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