Games › Base Building › Base Building + Life Sim
Should I ship a Life Sim Base Building game?
Base Building + Life Sim
Of 145 developers who shipped a Life Sim 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.. 282 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $24k, ×38 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2710 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 282 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) |
|---|---|
| Median | $24k (exactly $24,116) |
| Top 25% | $142k (exactly $141,656) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,701,949) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 145 |
| Released games | 292 |
| Announced | 282 |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply 25% 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
- Life Sim
- 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, Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 61,185 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 5 in 10 of the 78 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 282 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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
Quarantine Zone: The Last Check 2026 · $7.1M 
The Wandering Village 2025 · $7.0M 
Sengoku Dynasty 2024 · $5.9M 
Waterpark Simulator 2026 · $5.2M 
The Tenants 2022 · $4.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Quarantine Zone: The Last Check | $19.99 | 11,827 81% | 355k | $7.1M (exactly $7,092,652) | Brigada Games | |
| | The Wandering Village | $29.99 | 7,734 91% | 232k | $7.0M (exactly $6,958,280) | Stray Fawn Studio | |
| | Sengoku Dynasty | $29.99 | 6,592 74% | 198k | $5.9M (exactly $5,930,822) | Superkami | |
| | Waterpark Simulator | $12.99 | 13,280 96% | 398k | $5.2M (exactly $5,175,216) | CayPlay | |
| | The Tenants | older | $19.99 | 7,071 79% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,240,479) | EndGameLoop Games |
 | Farm Together 2 | $25.99 | 4,456 93% | 134k | $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) | Milkstone Studios | |
 | Rusty's Retirement | older | $6.99 | 13,902 96% | 417k | $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) | Mister Morris Games |
 | Mr. Prepper | older | $19.99 | 4,795 81% | 144k | $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) | Rejected Games |
 | I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival | $19.99 | 4,011 83% | 120k | $2.4M (exactly $2,405,397) | Mandragora | |
 | No Place Like Home | older | $19.99 | 3,784 78% | 114k | $2.3M (exactly $2,269,265) | Chicken Launcher |
 | The Ranch of Rivershine | $29.99 | 2,050 94% | 62k | $1.8M (exactly $1,844,385) | Cozy Bee Games | |
 | Winter Burrow | $19.99 | 2,838 89% | 85k | $1.7M (exactly $1,701,949) | Pine Creek Games | |
 | ContractVille | $9.99 | 5,593 80% | 168k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) | MYM Games Studios | |
 | Parcel Simulator | $17.99 | 2,804 93% | 84k | $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319) | Dansan Digital |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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