Games › Base Building › Base Building + Dragons
Should I ship a Dragon Base Building game?
Base Building + Dragons
Only 14 developers shipped a Dragon 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, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 46 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $19k, ×30 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $25M, ×40216 the market median. Revenue is up 2020% on the market; 46 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) |
|---|---|
| Median | $19k (exactly $18,708) |
| Top 25% | $98k (exactly $97,751) |
| Top 5% | $25M (exactly $25,255,479) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 46 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 2020% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Dragons
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Building, Co-op
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 33,088 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 46 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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
ARK: Survival Evolved 2017 · $264M 
RuneScape: Dragonwilds 2026 · $25M 
Dark and Light 2017 · EA · $5.7M 
Dungeon Alchemist 2022 · EA · $3.6M 
Mind Over Magic 2025 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ARK: Survival Evolved | older | $14.99 | 586,768 83% | 18M | $264M (exactly $263,869,570) | Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto… (Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, Virtual Basement LLC) |
| | RuneScape: Dragonwilds | $29.99 | 28,071 81% | 842k | $25M (exactly $25,255,479) | Jagex Ltd | |
| | Dark and Light | · EA older | $17.99 | 10,577 51% | 317k | $5.7M (exactly $5,708,407) | Snail Games USA |
| | Dungeon Alchemist | · EA older | $44.99 | 2,666 94% | 80k | $3.6M (exactly $3,598,300) | Briganti |
| | Mind Over Magic | $24.99 | 4,314 86% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,234,206) | Sparkypants | |
 | Citadel: Forged with Fire | older | $14.99 | 5,004 67% | 150k | $2.3M (exactly $2,250,299) | Blue Isle Studios |
 | Aground | older | $14.99 | 1,823 94% | 55k | $820k (exactly $819,803) | Fancy Fish Games, SnöBox Studio |
 | Circle Empires Rivals | older | $15.99 | 1,561 89% | 47k | $749k (exactly $748,812) | Luminous |
 | Draconia | · EA older | $19.99 | 798 64% | 24k | $479k (exactly $478,561) | Draconia Dev Team |
 | Circle Empires 2 | $12.99 | 266 72% | 8.0k | $104k (exactly $103,660) | Luminous | |
 | Dragonhold | $19.99 | 163 68% | 4.9k | $98k (exactly $97,751) | Exis Games | |
 | Sunbreak War | $8.99 | 122 81% | 3.7k | $33k (exactly $32,903) | Candlelight Studio | |
 | My Infamous Dungeon | $14.99 | 63 76% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $28,331) | BoxFox Studios | |
 | Realms of Madness | $15.99 | 39 89% | 1.2k | $19k (exactly $18,708) | Robin van der Horst | |
 | Demiurges | $14.99 | 36 88% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | Berih | |
 | Warsong | · EA | $14.99 | 10 70% | 300 | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) | Windforce |
 | Ravager - Moon-Friendly Edition | · EA | $19.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) | 4MinuteWarning |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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