Games › Base Building › Base Building + Collectathon
Should I ship a Collectathon Base Building game?
Base Building + Collectathon
Of 30 developers who shipped a Collectathon 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×618 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 63 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $716 (exactly $716) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,652) |
| Top 25% | $44k (exactly $43,756) |
| Top 5% | $388k (exactly $388,345) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 71 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 90% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Collectathon
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Collectathon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Life Sim
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 6,611 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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
Star Birds 2025 · EA · $1.8M 
Outpath 2023 · $1.3M 
holoVillage: Our Cozy Days 2026 · $388k 
Galactic Mining Corp 2021 · $338k 
Mudborne: Frog Management Sim 2025 · $238k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Star Birds | · EA | $19.99 | 2,990 92% | 90k | $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) | Toukana Interactive |
| | Outpath | older | $14.99 | 2,898 92% | 87k | $1.3M (exactly $1,303,231) | David Moralejo Sánchez |
| | holoVillage: Our Cozy Days | $24.99 | 518 83% | 16k | $388k (exactly $388,345) | Roboqlo | |
| | Galactic Mining Corp | older | $12.99 | 868 84% | 26k | $338k (exactly $338,260) | Windybeard |
| | Mudborne: Frog Management Sim | $7.99 | 993 96% | 30k | $238k (exactly $238,022) | ellraiser, TNgineers | |
 | My Little Life | $5.99 | 1,043 89% | 31k | $187k (exactly $187,427) | 9FingerGames | |
 | Rewind 99 | $11.99 | 436 69% | 13k | $157k (exactly $156,829) | Gunmetal Games, Real Fake Games | |
 | Research Story | $14.99 | 309 94% | 9.3k | $139k (exactly $138,957) | Petal Cat Games | |
 | Miniland Adventure | older | $10.99 | 290 72% | 8.7k | $96k (exactly $95,613) | Imilkowski Dev |
 | Ad Fundum | older | $6.99 | 429 93% | 13k | $90k (exactly $89,961) | Oldbut Gold |
 | OddFauna : Secret of the Terrabeast | · EA | $24.99 | 60 90% | 1.8k | $45k (exactly $44,982) | North Channel |
 | Lower? Higher! | $9.99 | 146 67% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $43,756) | Unplugged Studio | |
 | My Money Grows On Trees | $9.99 | 44 54% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $13,187) | Tbjbu2 | |
 | Mad Merchant | $5.99 | 72 79% | 2.2k | $13k (exactly $12,938) | Ravenholm Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.