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Should I ship a Building Perma Death game?
Building + Perma Death
Of 27 developers who shipped a Building Perma Death 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.. 52 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $990, ×1.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×930 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 52 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $987 (exactly $987) |
| Top 25% | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) |
| Top 5% | $584k (exactly $584,108) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 73 |
| Announced | 52 |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building, Perma Death; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 109,674 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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
My Summer Car 2025 · $49M 
Blackthorn Arena 2020 · $2.6M 
One Hour One Life 2018 · $1.8M 
Cluckmech Oasis 2024 · $922k 
Primordialis 2025 · EA · $584k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | My Summer Car | $14.99 | 108,503 94% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $48,793,799) | Amistech Games | |
| | Blackthorn Arena | older | $24.99 | 3,477 69% | 104k | $2.6M (exactly $2,606,707) | PersonaeGame Studio |
| | One Hour One Life | older | $14.99 | 3,988 79% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,793,404) | Jason Rohrer |
| | Cluckmech Oasis | older | $9.99 | 3,077 87% | 92k | $922k (exactly $922,177) | BlackLight |
| | Primordialis | · EA | $19.99 | 974 93% | 29k | $584k (exactly $584,108) | Kyler Natividad, Keith Sammut |
 | UnReal World | older | $14.50 | 1,224 93% | 37k | $532k (exactly $532,440) | Sami Maaranen (creator), Erkka Lehmus (… (Sami Maaranen (creator), Erkka Lehmus (co-designer)) |
 | Sipho | older | $17.99 | 339 83% | 10k | $183k (exactly $182,958) | All Parts Connected |
 | Exodus Borealis | older | $19.99 | 243 91% | 7.3k | $146k (exactly $145,727) | Smug Marmot Studios |
 | The Banished Vault | older | $24.99 | 189 78% | 5.7k | $142k (exactly $141,693) | Lunar Division |
 | Space Scavenger | older | $12.99 | 289 86% | 8.7k | $113k (exactly $112,623) | Red Cabin Games |
 | Don't Freeze: A Winter Card Survival | · EA | $17.99 | 31 74% | 930 | $17k (exactly $16,731) | YOLO35GAMES |
 | Cribbish | $4.99 | 65 81% | 2.0k | $9.7k (exactly $9,730) | Fence Post Games | |
 | Hand of Hexes | $11.99 | 26 96% | 780 | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) | emmdieh | |
 | One King Is Enough | $10.99 | 27 77% | 810 | $8.9k (exactly $8,902) | INVISIBLE GAMES | |
 | Rogue Night | $9.99 | 22 63% | 660 | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) | Grey November Games | |
 | Galdia | · EA | $9.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) | Shergaze Castle |
 | Death Nomad | $9.99 | 6 50% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Cosmic Noise | |
 | BattleshipCrafting | $5.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) | 洛米条 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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