Games › Building › Building + Hacking
Should I ship a Hacking Building game?
Building + Hacking
Only 12 developers shipped a Hacking 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, Streamer Life Simulator 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 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 $7.3k, ×12 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $4.0M, ×6447 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 19 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.3k (exactly $7,260) |
| Top 25% | $51k (exactly $51,249) |
| Top 5% | $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 19 |
| 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 55% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 7,231 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Building with a different setting or mood, 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
Streamer Life Simulator 2 2026 · $4.0M 
Turing Complete 2021 · EA · $3.3M 
SHENZHEN I/O 2016 · $1.7M 
Screeps: World 2016 · $1.2M 
Retro Gadgets 2022 · EA · $282k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Streamer Life Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 6,751 81% | 203k | $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575) | Cheesecake Dev | |
| | Turing Complete | · EA older | $19.99 | 5,520 95% | 166k | $3.3M (exactly $3,310,344) | LevelHead |
| | SHENZHEN I/O | older | $14.99 | 3,746 95% | 112k | $1.7M (exactly $1,684,576) | Zachtronics |
| | Screeps: World | older | $19.99 | 1,934 86% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,159,820) | Screeps, LLC |
| | Retro Gadgets | · EA older | $19.99 | 470 89% | 14k | $282k (exactly $281,859) | Licorice ehf, Studio Evil |
 | Logic World | · EA older | $25.00 | 338 94% | 10k | $254k (exactly $253,500) | Mouse Hat Games |
 | Crypto Mining Simulator | older | $4.99 | 1,419 65% | 43k | $212k (exactly $212,424) | Satosha Nakamoti |
 | Virtual Circuit Board | older | $14.99 | 304 91% | 9.1k | $137k (exactly $136,709) | Reverie Foundry |
 | Comet 64 | older | $14.99 | 182 74% | 5.5k | $82k (exactly $81,845) | Onur Ayas |
 | Quantum Odyssey | · EA | $17.99 | 141 92% | 4.2k | $76k (exactly $76,098) | Quarks Interactive |
 | Decision Legacy Collection | $9.99 | 171 83% | 5.1k | $51k (exactly $51,249) | FlyAnvil | |
 | Hard Chip | · EA | $14.99 | 68 91% | 2.0k | $31k (exactly $30,580) | Elorth |
 | Mnemonimov | · EA | $19.99 | 32 100% | 960 | $19k (exactly $19,190) | Reverie Foundry |
 | Data Center Simulator Game | · EA | $22.00 | 11 9% | 330 | $7.3k (exactly $7,260) | DC Uplink |
 | Games Tycoon | $5.99 | 39 53% | 1.2k | $7.0k (exactly $7,008) | Insignis Games | |
 | PolyCrime | · EA | $9.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | FoxGameDev |
 | ZIRQUITZ | $6.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Surrogate of Sorrow | |
 | Backrooms: The Yellow Dream | $2.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Crow Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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