Games › Building › Building + Romance
Should I ship a Romance Building game?
Building + Romance
Only 18 developers shipped a Romance Building 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, inZOI, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 59 more are announced, ×6.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $35k, ×56 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $36M, ×57349 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 59 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) |
|---|---|
| Median | $35k (exactly $35,077) |
| Top 25% | $191k (exactly $190,849) |
| Top 5% | $36M (exactly $36,014,994) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 62 |
| Announced | 59 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $13.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Crafting, Dating Sim, Life Sim
- Price point
- $13.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute, Cozy
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 69,308 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.6k. 5 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.6 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
inZOI 2025 · EA · $36M 
The Sims™ 3 2011 · $19M 
Fields of Mistria 2026 · $13M 
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma 2025 · $5.3M 
STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar 2025 · $4.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | inZOI | · EA | $39.99 | 30,020 77% | 901k | $36M (exactly $36,014,994) | inZOI Studio |
| | The Sims™ 3 | older | $19.99 | 31,071 85% | 932k | $19M (exactly $18,633,279) | The Sims Studio, Maxis |
| | Fields of Mistria | $13.99 | 31,918 96% | 958k | $13M (exactly $13,395,985) | NPC Studio | |
| | Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma | $59.99 | 2,947 88% | 88k | $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) | Marvelous Inc. | |
| | STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar | $49.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $4.7M (exactly $4,709,058) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Roots of Pacha | older | $24.99 | 3,779 93% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Soda Den |
 | Littlewood | older | $14.99 | 6,083 93% | 182k | $2.7M (exactly $2,735,525) | Sean Young |
 | Seed of the Dead: Sweet Home | older | $29.99 | 3,006 83% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,704,498) | TeamKRAMA |
 | STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Town | older | $39.99 | 1,357 82% | 41k | $1.6M (exactly $1,627,993) | Marvelous Inc. |
 | SunnySide | older | $19.99 | 913 67% | 27k | $548k (exactly $547,526) | Aftabi Games |
 | Tamer: King of Dinosaurs | · EA | $24.99 | 347 86% | 10k | $260k (exactly $260,146) | Ride the Lion Studios |
 | Cattle Country | $18.99 | 335 86% | 10k | $191k (exactly $190,849) | Castle Pixel, LLC. | |
 | Orange Season | $14.99 | 364 59% | 11k | $164k (exactly $163,691) | Innerfire Studios | |
 | Elvenfoundry | $34.99 | 46 67% | 1.4k | $48k (exactly $48,286) | SunbathGames | |
 | Nimbit Frontier | · EA | $13.99 | 113 97% | 3.4k | $47k (exactly $47,426) | Megasploot |
 | Moonlight In Garland | $14.99 | 78 85% | 2.3k | $35k (exactly $35,077) | Violet LeBeaux |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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