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Should I ship a Point & Click Base Building game?
Base Building + Point & Click
Of 27 developers who shipped a Point & Click 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×221 the market median. Revenue is up 145% on the market; 63 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,077) |
| Top 25% | $5.2k (exactly $5,240) |
| Top 5% | $139k (exactly $139,061) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 80 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 145% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Point & Click
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Point & Click; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Building, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 4,091 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
Mr. Prepper 2021 · $2.9M 
BitCraft Online 2025 · EA · $1.6M 
Capybara Spa 2022 · $322k 
Tame It! 2022 · $241k 
Arcade Tycoon ™ : Simulation Game 2021 · $203k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mr. Prepper | older | $19.99 | 4,795 81% | 144k | $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) | Rejected Games |
| | BitCraft Online | · EA | $15.99 | 3,334 72% | 100k | $1.6M (exactly $1,599,320) | Clockwork Laboratories, Inc. |
| | Capybara Spa | older | $7.99 | 1,345 94% | 40k | $322k (exactly $322,396) | Cozy Bee Games |
| | Tame It! | older | $14.99 | 535 84% | 16k | $241k (exactly $240,590) | Manka Games |
| | Arcade Tycoon ™ : Simulation Game | older | $14.99 | 452 80% | 14k | $203k (exactly $203,264) | Squidpunch Studios, Vincent Ltd |
 | Midori no Kaori | $9.99 | 464 94% | 14k | $139k (exactly $139,061) | TheLaba | |
 | Organs Please | older | $13.99 | 202 82% | 6.1k | $85k (exactly $84,779) | TECHHOME |
 | LAN Party Adventures | $14.99 | 93 89% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $41,822) | LEAP Game Studios | |
 | Cruise Ship Manager | older | $9.99 | 119 38% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $35,664) | Image Power S.A. |
 | Island Farmer - Jigsaw Puzzle | older | $1.99 | 463 94% | 14k | $28k (exactly $27,641) | Mens Sana Interactive |
 | Almost Castaways | $12.90 | 20 100% | 600 | $7.7k (exactly $7,740) | Pent Panda | |
 | Cradle of the Dark Brood | $4.99 | 38 78% | 1.1k | $5.7k (exactly $5,689) | RyuseGames | |
 | Chronominion Idler | · EA | $7.99 | 22 81% | 660 | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) | Indie Addict Game Studio |
 | Dworf's Forbidden Gold | $4.99 | 35 57% | 1.1k | $5.2k (exactly $5,240) | Hadamant | |
 | Blueprint Bob | $6.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) | Alexander Lahti, Suumpmolk, The LoFi Bo… (Alexander Lahti, Suumpmolk, The LoFi Boi, MrMusicGuy) | |
 | Buttons Up! | $1.99 | 53 84% | 1.6k | $3.2k (exactly $3,164) | Jestercraft | |
 | Gym Empire - Idle Gym Tycoon Management | $4.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Chronik Spartan |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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