Do I ship it?

GamesSimulationSimulation + Bowling

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Bowling Simulation game?

Simulation + Bowling

Only 14 developers shipped a Bowling Simulation 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, PBA Pro Bowling 2026, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 7 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $490k, ×787 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 7 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 7 announced, ×1.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Simulation + Bowling
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Simulation + Bowling: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 25% $33k (exactly $33,092)
Top 5% $494k (exactly $494,276)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 36
Announced 7
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 30% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Simulation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Bowling
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
Simulation, Bowling; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Arcade, Golf, Immersive Sim
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, 1990's
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 835 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $33k, 1 in 20 over $490k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 7 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds150 devs · median $55k · 81 announced
  2. + Escape RoomStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  3. + World War IFair23 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair285 devs · median $12k · 362 announced
  5. + LGBTQ+Fair272 devs · median $9.7k · 303 announced
  6. + PinballFair27 devs · median $8.2k · 28 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair672 devs · median $5.1k · 754 announced
  8. + BirdsFair19 devs · median $3.8k · 16 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair387 devs · median $3.0k · 490 announced
  10. + MusicFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 92 announced
  11. + Auto BattlerFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  12. + ProgrammingFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced

All 287 pairs on the Simulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PBA Pro Bowling 2026 $39.99 412 91% 12k $494k (exactly $494,276) FarSight Studios
All-In-One Sports VR older $19.99 700 84% 21k $420k (exactly $419,790) Appnori Inc.
Premium Bowling older $19.99 467 93% 14k $280k (exactly $280,060) Sadetta
Bowling Alley Simulator $14.99 251 90% 7.5k $113k (exactly $112,875) Vulcron
PBA Pro Bowling 2023 older $29.99 102 68% 3.1k $92k (exactly $91,769) FarSight Studios
PBA Pro Bowling older $14.99 180 78% 5.4k $81k (exactly $80,946) FarSight Studios
PBA Pro Bowling 2021 older $14.99 102 84% 3.1k $46k (exactly $45,869) FarSight Studios
VR SUPER SPORTS older $12.99 115 56% 3.5k $45k (exactly $44,816) SAT-BOX
Golden Tee Arcade Classics $29.99 45 86% 1.4k $40k (exactly $40,486) Digital Eclipse
Super 10 Pin $11.99 92 98% 2.8k $33k (exactly $33,092) Modus Interactive
Bowlers : The bowling experience $15.99 10 80% 300 $4.8k (exactly $4,797) Solid9Games
Rolling Ball: HD Remaster $59.99 2 50% 60 $3.6k (exactly $3,599) SUNYU Games
Skyline Bowling $4.99 11 72% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) VOODOO
Pin Money $6.99 3 100% 90 $629 (exactly $629) thirtysmooth
Bolf $2.99 7 57% 210 $628 (exactly $628) SimTenero
Bowling Simulator · EA $5.99 2 0% 60 $359 (exactly $359) Hard Shark Games

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