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Should I ship a Farming Base Building game?
Base Building + Farming
Of 34 developers who shipped a Farming 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.. 47 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $4.4M, ×7085 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 47 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) |
| Top 25% | $38k (exactly $38,376) |
| Top 5% | $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 55 |
| Announced | 47 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 5%, 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
- Farming
- 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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Crafting, Sandbox
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 40,447 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.6k. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Farthest Frontier | $34.99 | 24,444 86% | 733k | $26M (exactly $25,658,867) | Crate Entertainment | |
| | Len's Island | $24.99 | 5,935 82% | 178k | $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) | Flow Studio | |
| | Rusty's Retirement | older | $6.99 | 13,902 96% | 417k | $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) | Mister Morris Games |
| | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
| | Solarpunk™ | $22.99 | 3,492 81% | 105k | $2.4M (exactly $2,408,432) | Cyberwave | |
| | Aloft | · EA | $24.99 | 3,057 82% | 92k | $2.3M (exactly $2,291,833) | Astrolabe Interactive Inc. |
| | Outbound | $24.99 | 1,788 73% | 54k | $1.3M (exactly $1,340,464) | Square Glade Games | |
| | Among Trees | older | $14.99 | 2,071 68% | 62k | $931k (exactly $931,329) | FJRD Interactive |
| | Zombie Graveyard Simulator | $14.99 | 805 89% | 24k | $362k (exactly $362,008) | threeW | |
| | Mini Settlers | $12.99 | 592 85% | 18k | $231k (exactly $230,702) | Knight Owl Games | |
| | Medieval Horse Dealer Simulator | $17.99 | 193 89% | 5.8k | $104k (exactly $104,162) | One Slice of Pizza Games | |
| | Elsewhere | · EA | $15.99 | 80 96% | 2.4k | $38k (exactly $38,376) | Four White Cats |
| | Russian Village Simulator 2 | $15.99 | 61 70% | 1.8k | $29k (exactly $29,262) | VD Games, PropilGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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