Games › Base Building › Base Building + Trains
Should I ship a Train Base Building game?
Base Building + Trains
Only 19 developers shipped a Train 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, Voidtrain, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 47 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $110k, ×180 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $11k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.8M, ×12483 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 47 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $11k (exactly $10,793) |
|---|---|
| Median | $113k (exactly $113,205) |
| Top 25% | $427k (exactly $426,765) |
| Top 5% | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 47 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 down 80% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 2%, 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
- Trains
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Crafting, Building, Exploration
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 17,763 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $11k. 4 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 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
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Job SimulatorPoor odds
Comparable games
Factorio 2020 · $201M 
Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M 
Captain of Industry 2022 · EA · $12M 
Voidtrain 2025 · $7.8M 
Last Train Home 2023 · $5.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Factorio | older | $35.00 | 191,814 97% | 5.8M | $201M (exactly $201,404,700) | Wube Software LTD. |
| | Stormworks: Build and Rescue | older | $24.99 | 54,649 90% | 1.6M | $41M (exactly $40,970,355) | Geometa |
| | Captain of Industry | · EA older | $34.99 | 11,027 90% | 331k | $12M (exactly $11,575,042) | MaFi Games |
| | Voidtrain | $29.99 | 8,713 73% | 261k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) | HypeTrain Digital | |
| | Last Train Home | older | $39.99 | 4,511 86% | 135k | $5.4M (exactly $5,411,847) | Ashborne Games |
 | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
 | Zompiercer | · EA older | $19.99 | 4,562 88% | 137k | $2.7M (exactly $2,735,831) | DDDimanN |
 | Factory Town | older | $19.99 | 4,142 90% | 124k | $2.5M (exactly $2,483,957) | Erik Asmussen |
 | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
 | Plan B: Terraform | $15.99 | 3,526 91% | 106k | $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) | Gaddy Games | |
 | Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure | $29.99 | 1,867 82% | 56k | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) | Massive Miniteam | |
 | Locomoto | $24.99 | 579 90% | 17k | $434k (exactly $434,076) | Green Tile Digital | |
 | OxyRail | · EA | $14.99 | 949 80% | 28k | $427k (exactly $426,765) | OxygenTech Limited |
 | Heat Death: Survival Train | · EA | $11.99 | 709 77% | 21k | $255k (exactly $255,027) | Mass Game Devs |
 | Mini Settlers | $12.99 | 592 85% | 18k | $231k (exactly $230,702) | Knight Owl Games | |
 | EverRail | · EA | $14.99 | 372 69% | 11k | $167k (exactly $167,288) | Aesir Interactive |
 | Steel Artery: Train City Builder | $14.99 | 305 71% | 9.2k | $137k (exactly $137,158) | SoulAge23 | |
 | Factory Town 2: Paradise | · EA | $24.99 | 151 89% | 4.5k | $113k (exactly $113,205) | Erik Asmussen |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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