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Should I ship a Romance Base Building game?
Base Building + Romance
Only 10 developers shipped a Romance Base Building game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Island Notes, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $47k, ×76 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $8.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×549 the market median. Revenue is up 915% on the market; 21 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $8.4k (exactly $8,396) |
|---|---|
| Median | $47k (exactly $47,426) |
| Top 25% | $194k (exactly $193,821) |
| Top 5% | $344k (exactly $344,495) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 26 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $13.99 |
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 915% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Romance
- 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
- Price point
- $13.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 2,347 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $8.4k. 21 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Fabledom | older | $20.99 | 6,772 85% | 203k | $4.3M (exactly $4,264,328) | Grenaa Games |
| | Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition | older | $14.99 | 3,579 55% | 107k | $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) | Klabater |
| | Island Notes | $12.99 | 884 82% | 27k | $344k (exactly $344,495) | KangBaoGame | |
| | Buoyancy | · EA older | $12.99 | 808 54% | 24k | $315k (exactly $314,878) | Devs on a Boat |
| | Tamer: King of Dinosaurs | · EA | $24.99 | 347 86% | 10k | $260k (exactly $260,146) | Ride the Lion Studios |
| | Space Colony: Steam Edition | older | $14.99 | 564 78% | 17k | $254k (exactly $253,631) | Firefly Studios |
| | Tame It! | older | $14.99 | 535 84% | 16k | $241k (exactly $240,590) | Manka Games |
| | Harem in Another World | $14.99 | 431 94% | 13k | $194k (exactly $193,821) | Jong Games | |
| | Immoral-Bathhouse | $8.99 | 476 80% | 14k | $128k (exactly $128,377) | 奶油貓工作室, バター貓スタジオ | |
| | Land Of Idyllic Beauty | · EA older | $11.99 | 222 83% | 6.7k | $80k (exactly $79,853) | Neo |
| | Nimbit Frontier | · EA | $13.99 | 113 97% | 3.4k | $47k (exactly $47,426) | Megasploot |
| | Architecture & Design | · EA | $14.99 | 30 90% | 900 | $13k (exactly $13,491) | Crispytecture Games |
| | Wall Town Wonders | $19.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $8.4k (exactly $8,396) | Cyborn B.V. | |
| | Almost Castaways | $12.90 | 20 100% | 600 | $7.7k (exactly $7,740) | Pent Panda | |
| | Castaway Hand | $9.99 | 22 36% | 660 | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) | BAOCHUAN | |
| | Monmusu Island | $4.99 | 10 70% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | Pjoy Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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