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Should I ship a Building God Game?
Building + God Game
Of 74 developers who shipped a Building God 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.. 133 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.8k, ×9.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1152 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 133 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $628 (exactly $628) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.8k (exactly $5,753) |
| Top 25% | $44k (exactly $43,756) |
| Top 5% | $723k (exactly $723,238) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 74 |
| Released games | 251 |
| Announced | 133 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building, God Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, City Builder
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 21,106 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 6 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 133 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CatsFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Vehicular CombatPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + CrimePoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
Comparable games
Planet Coaster 2016 · $80M 
WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M 
Planet Coaster 2 2024 · $20M 
Craft The World 2014 · $8.6M 
The Universim 2024 · $7.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Planet Coaster | older | $44.99 | 59,443 91% | 1.8M | $80M (exactly $80,230,217) | Frontier Developments, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | WorldBox - God Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 51,071 95% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,627,279) | Maxim Karpenko |
| | Planet Coaster 2 | $49.99 | 13,047 74% | 391k | $20M (exactly $19,566,586) | Frontier Developments | |
| | Craft The World | older | $18.99 | 15,074 88% | 452k | $8.6M (exactly $8,587,658) | Dekovir Entertainment, Sibear Games |
| | The Universim | older | $29.99 | 8,465 79% | 254k | $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) | Crytivo |
 | Stonehearth | older | $19.99 | 10,652 76% | 320k | $6.4M (exactly $6,388,004) | Radiant Entertainment |
 | SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition | older | $19.99 | 8,495 81% | 255k | $5.1M (exactly $5,094,452) | EA - Maxis, Aspyr (Mac) |
 | The Tenants | older | $19.99 | 7,071 79% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,240,479) | EndGameLoop Games |
 | Tropico 4 | older | $14.99 | 8,211 91% | 246k | $3.7M (exactly $3,692,487) | Haemimont Games |
 | Reus 2 | older | $24.99 | 2,133 94% | 64k | $1.6M (exactly $1,599,110) | Abbey Games |
 | Sintopia | $34.99 | 951 80% | 29k | $998k (exactly $998,265) | Piraknights Games | |
 | Microcivilization | $17.99 | 1,437 78% | 43k | $776k (exactly $775,549) | Ondrej Homola | |
 | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
 | Dungeon Tycoon | $14.99 | 1,472 78% | 44k | $662k (exactly $661,958) | Lunheim Studios | |
 | Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder | $24.99 | 742 83% | 22k | $556k (exactly $556,277) | Coreffect Interactive | |
 | Masters of Albion | · EA | $24.99 | 607 64% | 18k | $455k (exactly $455,068) | 22cans |
 | Fata Deum - The God Sim | · EA | $29.99 | 410 59% | 12k | $369k (exactly $368,877) | 42 Bits Entertainment |
 | MINOS | $17.99 | 544 88% | 16k | $294k (exactly $293,597) | Artificer | |
 | Preserve | $12.49 | 690 92% | 21k | $259k (exactly $258,543) | Bitmap Galaxy |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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