Do I ship it?

Games › Base Building › Base Building + Logic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Logic Base Building game?

Base Building + Logic

Of 63 developers who shipped a Logic 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.. 98 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 $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2173 the market median. Revenue is up 485% on the market; 98 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 485% on the market, 98 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Logic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 63
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $4.0k → $4.8k → $2.3k → $1.2k → $1.5k → $17k (still earning) → $3.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Base Building + Logic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 63
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,307)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $19,190)
Top 5% $1.4M (exactly $1,364,901)
Developers, 2 yr 63
Released games 161
Announced 98
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 485% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Logic
effort 2 / 10 · high · deductive rules and grids

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Base Building, Logic; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Automation
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
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 91% positive over 24,787 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 98 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Base Building with a different second tag, 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

shapez 2 - Factory 2026 · $12M Stationeers 2017 · EA · $9.0M Airport CEO 2021 · $5.8M shapez 2020 · $4.3M Turing Complete 2021 · EA · $3.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
shapez 2 - Factory $29.99 13,846 96% 415k $12M (exactly $12,457,246) tobspr Games
Stationeers · EA older $34.99 8,597 88% 258k $9.0M (exactly $9,024,271) RocketWerkz
Airport CEO older $24.99 7,752 83% 233k $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) Apog Labs
shapez older $9.99 14,252 96% 428k $4.3M (exactly $4,271,324) Tobias Springer
Turing Complete · EA older $19.99 5,520 95% 166k $3.3M (exactly $3,310,344) LevelHead
Mind Over Magic $24.99 4,314 86% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,234,206) Sparkypants
Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure $29.99 1,867 82% 56k $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) Massive Miniteam
Alchemy Factory $17.99 2,529 87% 76k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,901) D5 Copperhead
Good Company older $24.99 1,480 73% 44k $1.1M (exactly $1,109,556) Chasing Carrots
Marble World older $19.99 1,268 89% 38k $760k (exactly $760,420) Vector Interactive
Modulus: Factory Automation $24.99 817 90% 25k $613k (exactly $612,505) Happy Volcano
City Tales - Medieval Era $22.99 543 90% 16k $375k (exactly $374,507) Irregular Shapes
Code: Terraform · EA $14.99 252 85% 7.6k $113k (exactly $113,324) AppsMafia
The Last FARMER $12.99 258 56% 7.7k $101k (exactly $100,543) Geekon
Block Factory $9.99 251 77% 7.5k $75k (exactly $75,225) OverPowered Team
I Fetch Rocks $15.99 110 94% 3.3k $53k (exactly $52,767) SarumXR

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