Do I ship it?

Games › Base Building › Base Building + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Score Attack Base Building game?

Base Building + Score Attack

Only 17 developers shipped a Score Attack 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, Monsters are Coming!, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 11 developers shipped in the last year and 31 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 31 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $28k → $2.7k → $150 → $3.8k → $1.6k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Base Building + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $3.8k (exactly $3,775)
Top 5% $733k (exactly $733,045)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 42
Announced 31
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 10% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Score Attack
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 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, Score Attack; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Action, Action Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 4,160 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $450, 1 in 4 over $3.7k, 1 in 20 over $730k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 11 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

Monsters are Coming! 2025 · $733k Sineus Arena Survivors 2026 · $379k GROSS 2023 · $103k Broken Universe - Tower Defense 2023 · $87k Sun Down Survivors 2023 · $28k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Monsters are Coming! $8.99 2,718 79% 82k $733k (exactly $733,045) Ludogram
Sineus Arena Survivors $10.99 1,150 77% 35k $379k (exactly $379,155) Sineus Games
GROSS older $12.99 265 80% 8.0k $103k (exactly $103,270) hangry owl games
Broken Universe - Tower Defense older $9.99 289 90% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,613) Jinthree Studio
Sun Down Survivors older $4.99 185 50% 5.6k $28k (exactly $27,694) Pixel Sprout Studios
Planetiles older $9.99 72 77% 2.2k $22k (exactly $21,578) MythicOwl
Colony 37 · EA $2.99 224 95% 6.7k $20k (exactly $20,093) Valen
hexurb older $4.99 57 73% 1.7k $8.5k (exactly $8,533) byMixNez
AstroScaper $9.99 14 100% 420 $4.2k (exactly $4,196) Fun Fortress
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)
Wake Cup $3.99 16 100% 480 $1.9k (exactly $1,915) Pyralis Studio
Orbiteers $4.99 11 100% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) Northborne Studios
HyperCoven $5.99 4 100% 120 $719 (exactly $719) Hyperkobel
OUTWORKS $4.99 3 66% 90 $449 (exactly $449) QUENCH FORGE
Luminatory $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) Halfbeast Studio

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