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Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure Base Building game?
Base Building + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 32 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure Base Building 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.. 96 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.3k, ×5.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×188 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 96 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) |
| Top 25% | $8.6k (exactly $8,630) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $118,141) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 97 |
| Announced | 96 |
| 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 down 40% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Choose Your Own Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Open World
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 1,489 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different second tag, 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
Out of Ore 2022 · $3.0M 
Wild West Legacy 2024 · $1.4M 
Celestial Empire 2025 · EA · $425k 
Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) 2023 · EA · $192k 
City 20 2024 · EA · $118k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Out of Ore | older | $24.99 | 3,978 85% | 119k | $3.0M (exactly $2,982,307) | North Modding Company AB |
| | Wild West Legacy | older | $26.99 | 1,706 39% | 51k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,348) | Moon Punch Studio |
| | Celestial Empire | · EA | $19.99 | 709 89% | 21k | $425k (exactly $425,187) | President Studio |
| | Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) | · EA older | $23.99 | 267 72% | 8.0k | $192k (exactly $192,160) | Happy Daram Inc. |
| | City 20 | · EA | $19.99 | 197 72% | 5.9k | $118k (exactly $118,141) | Untold Games |
 | SCP Strategy | older | $6.99 | 556 78% | 17k | $117k (exactly $116,593) | LUXO Interactive |
 | Far Lands | older | $24.99 | 154 62% | 4.6k | $115k (exactly $115,454) | Scalpel Softworks |
 | Organs Please | older | $13.99 | 202 82% | 6.1k | $85k (exactly $84,779) | TECHHOME |
 | Colonize | $9.99 | 192 39% | 5.8k | $58k (exactly $57,542) | Rembrosoft | |
 | ASTROBOTANICA | · EA | $19.99 | 76 59% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $45,577) | Space Goblin Studio |
 | Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood | older | $19.99 | 76 96% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $45,577) | Andrew G. Schneider |
 | Eggstreme Farming | $6.99 | 169 73% | 5.1k | $35k (exactly $35,439) | Sagitta Studios | |
 | Wild Alone | $10.99 | 38 47% | 1.1k | $13k (exactly $12,529) | Wild Alone 21 | |
 | Undomestic | $9.99 | 34 41% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Tempest Studios | |
 | Build For Sale Simulator | · EA | $8.99 | 32 46% | 960 | $8.6k (exactly $8,630) | Paragon Game Studio |
 | Almost Castaways | $12.90 | 20 100% | 600 | $7.7k (exactly $7,740) | Pent Panda | |
 | Castaway Hand | $9.99 | 22 36% | 660 | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) | BAOCHUAN |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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