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Should I ship a Magic Base Building game?
Base Building + Magic
Of 82 developers who shipped a Magic 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.. 266 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×7.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $710k, ×1136 the market median. Revenue is up 665% on the market; 266 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $40,529) |
| Top 5% | $714k (exactly $713,643) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 82 |
| Released games | 212 |
| Announced | 266 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 665% on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Magic
- 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Crafting, Survival
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 46,976 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 266 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 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
RuneScape: Dragonwilds 2026 · $25M 
Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense 2021 · $9.5M 
PixARK 2019 · $6.7M 
Pax Dei 2025 · $6.4M 
Dark and Light 2017 · EA · $5.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | RuneScape: Dragonwilds | $29.99 | 28,071 81% | 842k | $25M (exactly $25,255,479) | Jagex Ltd | |
| | Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense | older | $24.99 | 12,607 86% | 378k | $9.5M (exactly $9,451,468) | AutoAttack Games |
| | PixARK | older | $19.99 | 11,142 73% | 334k | $6.7M (exactly $6,681,857) | Snail Games USA |
| | Pax Dei | $29.99 | 7,163 56% | 215k | $6.4M (exactly $6,444,551) | Mainframe Industries | |
| | Dark and Light | · EA older | $17.99 | 10,577 51% | 317k | $5.7M (exactly $5,708,407) | Snail Games USA |
 | Becastled | $19.99 | 5,349 81% | 160k | $3.2M (exactly $3,207,795) | Mana Potion Studios | |
 | Rogue Tower | older | $14.99 | 5,772 82% | 173k | $2.6M (exactly $2,595,668) | Die of Death Games |
 | Spellcaster University | older | $24.99 | 3,424 83% | 103k | $2.6M (exactly $2,566,973) | Sneaky Yak Studio |
 | Might & Magic: Heroes VI | older | $9.99 | 8,545 47% | 256k | $2.6M (exactly $2,560,936) | Blackhole |
 | Citadel: Forged with Fire | older | $14.99 | 5,004 67% | 150k | $2.3M (exactly $2,250,299) | Blue Isle Studios |
 | Witchspire | · EA | $22.99 | 1,849 82% | 55k | $1.3M (exactly $1,275,255) | Envar Games |
 | Lay of the Land | $19.99 | 1,190 79% | 36k | $714k (exactly $713,643) | Southern Cross Interactive | |
 | Masters of Albion | · EA | $24.99 | 607 64% | 18k | $455k (exactly $455,068) | 22cans |
 | holoVillage: Our Cozy Days | $24.99 | 518 83% | 16k | $388k (exactly $388,345) | Roboqlo | |
 | Bloodgrounds | $19.99 | 561 77% | 17k | $336k (exactly $336,432) | Exordium Games | |
 | There Are No Orcs | $8.99 | 1,188 93% | 36k | $320k (exactly $320,404) | BaseTrade Studio | |
 | Castle Craft | $19.99 | 480 82% | 14k | $288k (exactly $287,856) | Twin Earth |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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