Games › Building › Building + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Building game?
Building + Psychological Horror
Of 24 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Building 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.. 56 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2229 the market median. Revenue is up 1100% on the market; 56 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $628 (exactly $628) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) |
| Top 25% | $247k (exactly $246,817) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,399,599) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 76 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 1100% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Sandbox, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 119,141 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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
Cities: Skylines II 2023 · $96M 
People Playground 2019 · $89M 
My Summer Car 2025 · $49M 
The LEGO® Movie - Videogame 2014 · $2.2M 
REKA 2024 · EA · $1.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cities: Skylines II | older | $49.99 | 64,211 57% | 1.9M | $96M (exactly $96,297,237) | Iceflake Studios, Colossal Order |
| | People Playground | older | $9.99 | 298,158 98% | 8.9M | $89M (exactly $89,357,953) | mestiez |
| | My Summer Car | $14.99 | 108,503 94% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $48,793,799) | Amistech Games | |
| | The LEGO® Movie - Videogame | older | $19.99 | 3,626 86% | 109k | $2.2M (exactly $2,174,512) | TT Fusion, Traveller's Tales |
| | REKA | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,989 82% | 90k | $1.8M (exactly $1,792,503) | Emberstorm Entertainment |
 | SHENZHEN I/O | older | $14.99 | 3,746 95% | 112k | $1.7M (exactly $1,684,576) | Zachtronics |
 | Lucid Blocks | $9.99 | 4,670 93% | 140k | $1.4M (exactly $1,399,599) | Lucy B. Locks | |
 | Flyout | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,137 83% | 64k | $1.3M (exactly $1,281,559) | Stonext Games |
 | Command & Conquer™ 4 Tiberian Twilight | older | $6.96 | 4,832 16% | 145k | $1.0M (exactly $1,008,922) | EA Los Angeles |
 | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
 | DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain | $17.99 | 1,255 91% | 38k | $677k (exactly $677,323) | Drop Rate Studio | |
 | Tingus Goose | $6.99 | 1,224 89% | 37k | $257k (exactly $256,673) | SweatyChair | |
 | Goblin Nest | $6.99 | 1,177 93% | 35k | $247k (exactly $246,817) | BadColor | |
 | ROGUE LIGHT DECK BUILDER | $3.99 | 888 94% | 27k | $106k (exactly $106,294) | Gil Lawson | |
 | LIMSCAPE : THE LIMINAL SPACE EXPLORER | $9.99 | 163 87% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $48,851) | SMOOTHEA | |
 | Don't Freeze: A Winter Card Survival | · EA | $17.99 | 31 74% | 930 | $17k (exactly $16,731) | YOLO35GAMES |
 | Pumpkin Woods | · EA | $19.99 | 24 87% | 720 | $14k (exactly $14,393) | Enchanted Pumpkin Co. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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