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Should I ship a God Game Base Building game?
Base Building + God Game
Of 37 developers who shipped a God Game 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.. 77 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 $28k, ×45 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $990k, ×1590 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 77 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,249) |
|---|---|
| Median | $28k (exactly $28,331) |
| Top 25% | $294k (exactly $293,597) |
| Top 5% | $998k (exactly $998,265) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 146 |
| Announced | 77 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.49 |
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 20% 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
- God Game
- 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, God Game; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry City Builder, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $12.49 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Dark Humor
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $12.49.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 10,322 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.3k. 5 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 77 games are announced against 20 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
Dungeons 3 2017 · $11M 
War for the Overworld 2015 · $5.8M 
SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition 2010 · $5.1M 
The Tenants 2022 · $4.2M 
Rise to Ruins 2019 · $3.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dungeons 3 | older | $29.99 | 12,648 93% | 379k | $11M (exactly $11,379,406) | Realmforge Studios |
| | War for the Overworld | older | $29.99 | 6,495 85% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) | Brightrock Games |
| | SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition | older | $19.99 | 8,495 81% | 255k | $5.1M (exactly $5,094,452) | EA - Maxis, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | The Tenants | older | $19.99 | 7,071 79% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,240,479) | EndGameLoop Games |
| | Rise to Ruins | older | $14.99 | 7,234 87% | 217k | $3.3M (exactly $3,253,130) | Raymond Doerr |
 | Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition | older | $14.99 | 3,579 55% | 107k | $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) | Klabater |
 | Reus 2 | older | $24.99 | 2,133 94% | 64k | $1.6M (exactly $1,599,110) | Abbey Games |
 | Sapiens | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,052 80% | 62k | $1.5M (exactly $1,538,384) | Majic Jungle |
 | The Settlers: New Allies | older | $39.99 | 1,175 49% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,409,648) | Ubisoft Düsseldorf |
 | Dungeons 2 | older | $19.99 | 2,292 79% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,374,512) | Realmforge Studios |
 | JIANGHU CHRONICLES | $17.99 | 2,046 70% | 61k | $1.1M (exactly $1,104,226) | 一品阁 | |
 | Sintopia | $34.99 | 951 80% | 29k | $998k (exactly $998,265) | Piraknights Games | |
 | Microcivilization | $17.99 | 1,437 78% | 43k | $776k (exactly $775,549) | Ondrej Homola | |
 | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
 | Gold Gold Adventure Gold | $24.99 | 907 70% | 27k | $680k (exactly $679,978) | Can Can Can a Man | |
 | Dungeon Tycoon | $14.99 | 1,472 78% | 44k | $662k (exactly $661,958) | Lunheim Studios | |
 | Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder | $24.99 | 742 83% | 22k | $556k (exactly $556,277) | Coreffect Interactive | |
 | Masters of Albion | · EA | $24.99 | 607 64% | 18k | $455k (exactly $455,068) | 22cans |
 | Fata Deum - The God Sim | · EA | $29.99 | 410 59% | 12k | $369k (exactly $368,877) | 42 Bits Entertainment |
 | MINOS | $17.99 | 544 88% | 16k | $294k (exactly $293,597) | Artificer |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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