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Should I ship a Building Puzzle game?
Building + Puzzle
Of 255 developers who shipped a Building Puzzle 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.. 369 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×587 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 369 games are announced against 136 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,076) |
| Top 5% | $369k (exactly $368,631) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 255 |
| Released games | 888 |
| Announced | 369 |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Sandbox
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 34,158 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 140 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 369 games are announced against 136 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
PC Building Simulator 2019 · $25M 
Besiege 2020 · $22M 
Hardspace: Shipbreaker 2022 · $20M 
shapez 2 - Factory 2026 · $12M 
Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 2015 · $7.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | PC Building Simulator | older | $19.99 | 42,153 93% | 1.3M | $25M (exactly $25,279,154) | Claudiu Kiss, The Irregular Corporation |
| | Besiege | older | $14.99 | 48,045 95% | 1.4M | $22M (exactly $21,605,836) | Spiderling Studios |
| | Hardspace: Shipbreaker | older | $34.99 | 19,431 89% | 583k | $20M (exactly $20,396,721) | Blackbird Interactive |
| | shapez 2 - Factory | $29.99 | 13,846 96% | 415k | $12M (exactly $12,457,246) | tobspr Games | |
| | Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 | older | $19.99 | 12,078 92% | 362k | $7.2M (exactly $7,243,177) | Red Dot Games |
 | Mini Motorways | older | $9.99 | 23,561 96% | 707k | $7.1M (exactly $7,061,232) | Dinosaur Polo Club |
 | Tricky Towers | older | $14.99 | 12,390 90% | 372k | $5.6M (exactly $5,571,783) | WeirdBeard |
 | Poly Bridge | older | $9.99 | 17,107 91% | 513k | $5.1M (exactly $5,126,968) | Dry Cactus |
 | LEGO® Jurassic World | older | $19.99 | 7,797 92% | 234k | $4.7M (exactly $4,675,861) | TT Games Ltd |
 | shapez | older | $9.99 | 14,252 96% | 428k | $4.3M (exactly $4,271,324) | Tobias Springer |
 | Cheap Car Repair | $19.69 | 3,603 91% | 108k | $2.1M (exactly $2,128,292) | Little Dog Games | |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | Hozy | $14.99 | 4,128 80% | 124k | $1.9M (exactly $1,856,362) | Come On Studio | |
 | Parcel Simulator | $17.99 | 2,804 93% | 84k | $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319) | Dansan Digital | |
 | LEGO® Voyagers | $24.99 | 1,859 88% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,393,692) | Light Brick Studio | |
 | World of Goo 2 | $29.99 | 801 87% | 24k | $721k (exactly $720,660) | 2D BOY, Tomorrow Corporation | |
 | ShapeHero Factory | $23.99 | 991 88% | 30k | $713k (exactly $713,223) | Asobism.Co.,Ltd | |
 | Small Spaces | · EA | $12.99 | 1,479 89% | 44k | $576k (exactly $576,366) | smilestone games |
 | Camper Van: Make it Home | $14.99 | 1,150 91% | 35k | $517k (exactly $517,155) | Malapata Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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