Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Solitaire game?

Building + Solitaire

Only 14 developers shipped a Building Solitaire 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, Kaizen: A Factory Story, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×663 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 16 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $599 → $5.9k → $13k → $4.2k → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Top 25% $9.7k (exactly $9,730)
Top 5% $416k (exactly $416,192)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 65
Announced 16
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 95% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Building, Solitaire; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Strategy, Deckbuilding
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Stylized, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 945 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $9.7k, 1 in 20 over $410k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M SHENZHEN I/O 2016 · $1.7M Cardboard Town 2023 · $1.2M Last Call BBS 2022 · $732k Kaizen: A Factory Story 2025 · $416k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stacklands older $7.99 29,244 96% 877k $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) Sokpop Collective
SHENZHEN I/O older $14.99 3,746 95% 112k $1.7M (exactly $1,684,576) Zachtronics
Cardboard Town older $19.99 2,051 79% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) Stratera Games, cukuto
Last Call BBS older $19.99 1,220 94% 37k $732k (exactly $731,634) Zachtronics
Kaizen: A Factory Story $19.99 694 91% 21k $416k (exactly $416,192) Coincidence
Last Resort Island older $8.99 173 87% 5.2k $47k (exactly $46,658) rokaplay
Jewel Match Twilight Solitaire older $9.99 119 94% 3.6k $36k (exactly $35,664) Suricate Software
Jewel Match Solitaire older $9.99 98 90% 2.9k $29k (exactly $29,371) Suricate Software
Jewel Match Atlantis Solitaire - Collector's Edition older $12.99 70 94% 2.1k $27k (exactly $27,279) Suricate Software
Paper Kingdom $12.99 65 61% 2.0k $25k (exactly $25,330) obece
Jewel Match Solitaire Fantasy - Collector's Edition $13.99 38 92% 1.1k $16k (exactly $15,949) Suricate Software
WAGON $10.99 38 94% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,529) de_husk
Cribbish $4.99 65 81% 2.0k $9.7k (exactly $9,730) Fence Post Games
Jewel Match Solitaire Winterscapes 3 - Collector's Edition $13.99 14 78% 420 $5.9k (exactly $5,876) Suricate Software
Jewel Match Atlantis Solitaire 5 - Collector's Edition $13.99 10 80% 300 $4.2k (exactly $4,197) Suricate Software
Pazleum · EA $9.90 10 90% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,970) Pazl Studio
Hell Builder $4.99 9 88% 270 $1.3k (exactly $1,347) Cuddle Code
Throne of Cards $11.99 2 50% 60 $719 (exactly $719) Hidden Universe Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.