Games › Building › Building + Life Sim
Should I ship a Building Life Sim?
Building + Life Sim
Of 368 developers who shipped a Building Life Sim 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.. 663 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 $15k, ×24 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3311 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 663 games are announced against 211 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
|---|---|
| Median | $15k (exactly $14,781) |
| Top 25% | $122k (exactly $121,869) |
| Top 5% | $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 368 |
| Released games | 803 |
| Announced | 663 |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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, Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Sandbox, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 244,415 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.3k. 6 in 10 of the 191 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 663 games are announced against 211 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
Stardew Valley 2016 · $402M 
Supermarket Simulator 2025 · $48M 
inZOI 2025 · EA · $36M 
My Time at Portia 2019 · $31M 
WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stardew Valley | older | $14.99 | 894,201 98% | 27M | $402M (exactly $402,122,190) | ConcernedApe |
| | Supermarket Simulator | $19.99 | 79,236 92% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,517,829) | Nokta Games | |
| | inZOI | · EA | $39.99 | 30,020 77% | 901k | $36M (exactly $36,014,994) | inZOI Studio |
| | My Time at Portia | older | $29.99 | 34,844 91% | 1.0M | $31M (exactly $31,349,147) | Pathea Games |
| | WorldBox - God Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 51,071 95% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,627,279) | Maxim Karpenko |
 | My Time at Sandrock | older | $39.99 | 24,110 88% | 723k | $29M (exactly $28,924,767) | Pathea Games |
 | PC Building Simulator | older | $19.99 | 42,153 93% | 1.3M | $25M (exactly $25,279,154) | Claudiu Kiss, The Irregular Corporation |
 | Paralives | · EA | $39.99 | 20,123 89% | 604k | $24M (exactly $24,141,563) | Alex Massé and team |
 | Coral Island | older | $29.99 | 21,828 89% | 655k | $20M (exactly $19,638,652) | Stairway Games |
 | The Sims™ 3 | older | $19.99 | 31,071 85% | 932k | $19M (exactly $18,633,279) | The Sims Studio, Maxis |
 | Dinkum | $19.99 | 24,641 92% | 739k | $15M (exactly $14,777,208) | James Bendon | |
 | Fields of Mistria | $13.99 | 31,918 96% | 958k | $13M (exactly $13,395,985) | NPC Studio | |
 | Mon Bazou | $15.99 | 19,922 97% | 598k | $9.6M (exactly $9,556,583) | Santa Goat | |
 | Two Point Museum | $29.99 | 9,626 95% | 289k | $8.7M (exactly $8,660,512) | Two Point Studios | |
 | Quarantine Zone: The Last Check | $19.99 | 11,827 81% | 355k | $7.1M (exactly $7,092,652) | Brigada Games | |
 | Starsand Island | $39.99 | 5,898 76% | 177k | $7.1M (exactly $7,075,831) | Seed Sparkle Lab | |
 | Luma Island | $19.99 | 11,204 84% | 336k | $6.7M (exactly $6,719,039) | Feel Free Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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