Games › Base Building › Base Building + Underground
Should I ship an Underground Base Building game?
Base Building + Underground
Only 12 developers shipped an Underground 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, MineMogul, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 71 more are announced, ×10 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $65k, ×104 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $21k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.9M, ×3101 the market median. Revenue is up 495% on the market; 71 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $20k (exactly $20,093) |
|---|---|
| Median | $65k (exactly $65,391) |
| Top 25% | $407k (exactly $407,428) |
| Top 5% | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 71 |
| 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 up 495% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Underground
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 8,530 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $21k. 4 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 71 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×10 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
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Job SimulatorPoor odds
Comparable games
War for the Overworld 2015 · $5.8M 
Mr. Prepper 2021 · $2.9M 
Until We Die 2021 · $2.2M 
MineMogul 2025 · EA · $1.9M 
KeeperRL 2024 · $1.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | War for the Overworld | older | $29.99 | 6,495 85% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) | Brightrock Games |
| | Mr. Prepper | older | $19.99 | 4,795 81% | 144k | $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) | Rejected Games |
| | Until We Die | older | $16.99 | 4,221 62% | 127k | $2.2M (exactly $2,151,444) | Pixeye Games |
| | MineMogul | · EA | $14.99 | 4,330 96% | 130k | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) | NoodleForge (Gvarados & Diomonder) |
| | KeeperRL | older | $19.99 | 1,677 83% | 50k | $1.0M (exactly $1,005,697) | Electric Succubi |
 | The Spotter: Dig or Die | $12.99 | 1,792 84% | 54k | $698k (exactly $698,342) | Puppyroar Games | |
 | Lumencraft | older | $19.99 | 1,086 75% | 33k | $651k (exactly $651,274) | 2Dynamic Games |
 | Dirty Business | · EA | $14.99 | 906 75% | 27k | $407k (exactly $407,428) | Plan Dirty Games |
 | STATIONflow | older | $17.99 | 479 85% | 14k | $259k (exactly $258,516) | DMM GAMES |
 | Project Wunderwaffe | older | $14.99 | 438 56% | 13k | $197k (exactly $196,969) | Weasel Games |
 | Dying Breed | · EA | $17.99 | 218 71% | 6.5k | $118k (exactly $117,655) | Sarnayer |
 | Aground Zero | $19.99 | 121 81% | 3.6k | $73k (exactly $72,564) | Fancy Fish Games | |
 | iDigging | $2.99 | 729 69% | 22k | $65k (exactly $65,391) | TWEN | |
 | Deep Among the Swarm | $8.99 | 132 85% | 4.0k | $36k (exactly $35,600) | Pebble Mountain Games | |
 | Underworld Overseer | $19.99 | 52 90% | 1.6k | $31k (exactly $31,184) | Myron Games | |
 | Colony 37 | · EA | $2.99 | 224 95% | 6.7k | $20k (exactly $20,093) | Valen |
 | ExoColony: Planet Survival | $11.99 | 26 69% | 780 | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) | Simplemole |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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