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Should I ship a Cat Base Building game?
Base Building + Cats
Only 15 developers shipped a Cat Base Building 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, Learning Factory, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 41 more are announced, ×8.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.4k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×279 the market median. Revenue is up 225% on the market; 41 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.6k (exactly $4,554) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,101) |
| Top 5% | $175k (exactly $175,383) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 33 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 225% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Cats
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,252 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.6k. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | MewnBase | older | $9.99 | 1,331 92% | 40k | $399k (exactly $398,901) | Cairn4 |
| | Everdell | older | $19.99 | 577 90% | 17k | $346k (exactly $346,027) | Dire Wolf |
| | Learning Factory | $14.99 | 390 84% | 12k | $175k (exactly $175,383) | Luden.io | |
| | Pets Hotel | older | $17.99 | 313 79% | 9.4k | $169k (exactly $168,926) | Games Incubator |
| | Cozy Keep: Farm, Craft, Manage | · EA | $14.99 | 315 93% | 9.5k | $142k (exactly $141,656) | Unbossed Games |
| | 铁道物语:陆王(Railway Saga:Land King) | · EA older | $9.99 | 394 78% | 12k | $118k (exactly $118,082) | 風林火山工作室, 東木酋長 |
| | Catizens | $17.77 | 214 81% | 6.4k | $114k (exactly $114,083) | badopticsgames | |
| | Space Cats Tactics | older | $14.99 | 100 74% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $44,970) | Mitzi Games, Alex Nicola |
| | Kill A Million Rats | $10.99 | 64 89% | 1.9k | $21k (exactly $21,101) | Nerdook Productions | |
| | PurrPlate | $9.99 | 64 68% | 1.9k | $19k (exactly $19,181) | LeankomGames | |
| | Mistpaw Ravine | $15.99 | 36 94% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $17,269) | Jon Nielsen | |
| | Sushi Cat - Tower Defense | $9.99 | 51 84% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $15,285) | OverPowered Team | |
| | Shop Simulator: Pet Shop | $9.99 | 28 82% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | Three River Games (3RG) | |
| | Hot Springs | 温泉 (Onsen) | $3.99 | 51 74% | 1.5k | $6.1k (exactly $6,105) | Peach Party | |
| | Cats go! : Tactical Defense Braw | $4.99 | 39 97% | 1.2k | $5.8k (exactly $5,838) | Minimum Studio Corp. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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