Do I ship it?

GamesBase BuildingBase Building + Romance

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 75.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 915% on the market, 21 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Romance
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Base Building + Romance: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
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.

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
Romance
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Base Building
Price point
$13.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 2,347 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $8.4k, median $47k, 1 in 4 over $190k, 1 in 20 over $340k.

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.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Base Building with a different setting or mood, 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

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.