Do I ship it?

GamesBuildingBuilding + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led Building game?

Building + Female Protagonist

Of 48 developers who shipped a Female-Led Building game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 94 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×5.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $4.0M, ×6447 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 94 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 94 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 48
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $30k → $8.1k → $3.1k → $156k → $3.4k → $1.5k (still earning) → $9.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 48
Bottom 30% $839 (exactly $839)
Median $3.4k (exactly $3,443)
Top 25% $178k (exactly $178,111)
Top 5% $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575)
Developers, 2 yr 48
Released games 179
Announced 94
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.00

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 95% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Female Protagonist
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
Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Crafting, Exploration
Price point
$10.00 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Colorful, Cozy
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $10.00.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 69,909 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $840, median $3.4k, 1 in 4 over $170k, 1 in 20 over $4.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $840. 5 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 94 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition older $29.99 47,176 94% 1.4M $42M (exactly $42,444,247) Thunder Lotus
Slime Rancher 2 $29.99 43,590 94% 1.3M $39M (exactly $39,217,923) Monomi Park
My Time at Portia older $29.99 34,844 91% 1.0M $31M (exactly $31,349,147) Pathea Games
My Time at Sandrock older $39.99 24,110 88% 723k $29M (exactly $28,924,767) Pathea Games
Evil Genius 2: World Domination older $39.99 11,255 69% 338k $14M (exactly $13,502,624) Rebellion
Farm Together older $19.99 17,647 93% 529k $11M (exactly $10,582,906) Milkstone Studios
Construction Simulator older $24.99 10,606 82% 318k $8.0M (exactly $7,951,318) weltenbauer. Software Entwicklung GmbH
ASKA · EA older $24.99 10,457 79% 314k $7.8M (exactly $7,839,613) Sand Sailor Studio
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma $59.99 2,947 88% 88k $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) Marvelous Inc.
Backpack Hero older $19.99 7,423 85% 223k $4.5M (exactly $4,451,573) Jaspel
Streamer Life Simulator 2 $19.99 6,751 81% 203k $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575) Cheesecake Dev
Doloc Town $19.99 3,166 94% 95k $1.9M (exactly $1,898,650) RedSaw Games Studio
ContractVille $9.99 5,593 80% 168k $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) MYM Games Studios
Crashlands 2 $24.99 2,202 88% 66k $1.7M (exactly $1,650,839) Butterscotch Shenanigans
Wicked Island · EA $34.99 1,194 76% 36k $1.3M (exactly $1,253,342) RawDarkness
AETHUS $19.99 2,030 94% 61k $1.2M (exactly $1,217,391) Pawsmonaut Games
Little Rocket Lab $19.99 1,286 90% 39k $771k (exactly $771,214) Teenage Astronauts
Camper Van: Make it Home $14.99 1,150 91% 35k $517k (exactly $517,155) Malapata Studio

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