Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Investigation game?

Building + Investigation

Only 16 developers shipped a Building Investigation 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, Parcel Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×2410 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 30 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 30 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $80k → $54k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,025)
Top 25% $80k (exactly $80,496)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 40
Announced 30
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 up 90% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Investigation
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, Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Adventure
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,606 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 $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $80k, 1 in 20 over $1.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Building with a different second tag, 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

while True: learn() 2019 · $2.9M Parcel Simulator 2025 · $1.5M Obenseuer 2018 · EA · $1.0M The Last Gas Station 2026 · $525k Haunted House Renovator 2025 · $118k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
while True: learn() older $12.99 7,350 91% 221k $2.9M (exactly $2,864,295) Luden.io
Parcel Simulator $17.99 2,804 93% 84k $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319) Dansan Digital
Obenseuer · EA older $19.99 1,684 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) Loiste Interactive
The Last Gas Station $13.99 1,250 87% 38k $525k (exactly $524,625) Alawar
Haunted House Renovator $19.99 197 45% 5.9k $118k (exactly $118,141) Image Power S.A.
Bombe older $9.99 379 95% 11k $114k (exactly $113,586) Charlie Brej
Anoxia Station $14.99 179 76% 5.4k $80k (exactly $80,496) Bonereaders
Airport Baggage Simulator $17.99 100 92% 3.0k $54k (exactly $53,970) Three River Games (3RG)
The Lighthouse · EA older $24.99 34 64% 1.0k $25k (exactly $25,490) Shadow Knights Studio
Mini Countries older $9.99 53 66% 1.6k $16k (exactly $15,884) Yheeky Games
Sea of Electronica $4.99 27 74% 810 $4.0k (exactly $4,042) Playbooster
Undefined Survivors -アンディファインド サバイバーズ- · EA $29.99 2 0% 60 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) Runpath Inc.
Checkpoint Inc $4.27 8 75% 240 $1.0k (exactly $1,025) Punchers
The Isolated · EA $0.99 33 66% 990 $980 (exactly $980) STuNT
GlobalQuarantine $4.99 6 33% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Contagio Games

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