Do I ship it?

GamesBase BuildingBase Building + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon Base Building game?

Base Building + Demons

Of 21 developers who shipped a Demon 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.. 43 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 $11k, ×18 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 43 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 17.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 43 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.0k → $1.2k → $108k → $9.0k → $28k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Base Building + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $3.6k (exactly $3,591)
Median $11k (exactly $11,058)
Top 25% $60k (exactly $59,676)
Top 5% $290k (exactly $290,134)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 49
Announced 43
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 45% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Base Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Demons
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Base Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Strategy
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 2,970 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.6k, median $11k, 1 in 4 over $59k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.6k. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Base Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + ProgrammingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair12 devs · median $13k · 19 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair61 devs · median $540 · 67 announced
  4. + DiplomacyPoor odds19 devs · median $520k · 47 announced
  5. + SailingPoor odds9 devs · median $356k · 38 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds19 devs · median $128k · 21 announced
  7. + TrainsPoor odds19 devs · median $113k · 47 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds130 devs · median $72k · 262 announced
  10. + UndergroundPoor odds12 devs · median $65k · 71 announced
  11. + MarsPoor odds15 devs · median $58k · 28 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds81 devs · median $58k · 175 announced

All 175 pairs on the Base Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Worshippers of Cthulhu $24.99 1,305 80% 39k $978k (exactly $978,358) Crazy Goat Games
Night is Coming · EA $24.99 387 59% 12k $290k (exactly $290,134) Wild Forest Studio
Hell Architect older $24.99 356 65% 11k $267k (exactly $266,893) Woodland Games
Concubine · EA $14.99 517 81% 16k $232k (exactly $232,495) Upgrade Entertainment
Spirits of the Hellements - TD older $11.99 326 92% 9.8k $117k (exactly $117,262) Hippo Rider Games
Hauntsville $18.99 189 68% 5.7k $108k (exactly $107,673) Michael Janisch
Lazy Witch's Factory · EA $15.99 204 91% 6.1k $98k (exactly $97,859) MELTCLOCK.Inc
ArkCraft: The Rebirth of the World $10.99 181 71% 5.4k $60k (exactly $59,676) ZD Yazilim
Horror Tycoon · EA older $14.99 90 61% 2.7k $40k (exactly $40,473) Smidge Games LLC
Forbidden Ingress older $4.99 228 75% 6.8k $34k (exactly $34,132) Strange_Indie_Team
My Infamous Dungeon $14.99 63 76% 1.9k $28k (exactly $28,331) BoxFox Studios
Fortifend $15.99 39 89% 1.2k $19k (exactly $18,708) Side Crumb
Flow Of War $12.99 40 85% 1.2k $16k (exactly $15,588) Rongcon Games
Flocking Hell $9.99 45 93% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) Sextant Studios

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