Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Capitalism
Should I ship a Capitalist Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Capitalism
Of 74 developers who shipped a Capitalist 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.. 124 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $88k, ×187 the market median. Revenue is up 500% on the market; 124 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
| Top 25% | $6.2k (exactly $6,203) |
| Top 5% | $89k (exactly $88,591) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 74 |
| Released games | 191 |
| Announced | 124 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 500% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
- Capitalism
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 4,303 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 124 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
HITMAN World of Assassination 2022 · $53M 
No Umbrellas Allowed 2021 · $836k 
Hundred Days - Winemaking Simulator 2021 · $774k 
Third Crisis: Neon Nights 2026 · EA · $676k 
NUTS 2021 · $663k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | HITMAN World of Assassination | older | $29.99 | 58,655 87% | 1.8M | $53M (exactly $52,771,904) | IO Interactive A/S |
| | No Umbrellas Allowed | older | $19.99 | 1,394 80% | 42k | $836k (exactly $835,982) | Hoochoo Game Studios |
| | Hundred Days - Winemaking Simulator | older | $24.99 | 1,033 77% | 31k | $774k (exactly $774,440) | Broken Arms Games |
| | Third Crisis: Neon Nights | · EA | $19.99 | 1,127 92% | 34k | $676k (exactly $675,862) | Anduo Games |
| | NUTS | older | $24.99 | 884 88% | 27k | $663k (exactly $662,735) | Joon, Pol, Muutsch, Char & Torfi |
 | Outhold | $6.99 | 1,818 86% | 55k | $381k (exactly $381,235) | Tellus Games | |
 | Wolf of Stock Street | older | $10.99 | 878 77% | 26k | $289k (exactly $289,477) | 樹懶叫工作室, sloth gamer |
 | Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency | older | $14.99 | 460 81% | 14k | $207k (exactly $206,862) | Neat Corporation, Fast Travel Games |
 | Broken Reality 2000 | $14.99 | 371 76% | 11k | $167k (exactly $166,839) | Dynamic Media Triad | |
 | Super Life (RPG) | older | $9.99 | 534 90% | 16k | $160k (exactly $160,040) | Klick Ink L.P. |
 | Check Inn | $14.99 | 197 84% | 5.9k | $89k (exactly $88,591) | KishMish Games | |
 | Block Factory | $9.99 | 251 77% | 7.5k | $75k (exactly $75,225) | OverPowered Team | |
 | Mythmatch | $19.99 | 124 98% | 3.7k | $74k (exactly $74,363) | Team Artichoke | |
 | Alruna and the Necro-Industrialists | $9.99 | 113 84% | 3.4k | $34k (exactly $33,866) | Neckbolt | |
 | ColdRidge | $9.99 | 97 73% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $29,071) | Frog Collective | |
 | how to kill a fly [ H2KAF ] | $9.99 | 71 97% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $21,279) | Radtel Collective | |
 | Pocket Boss | $4.99 | 134 89% | 4.0k | $20k (exactly $20,060) | Langfilm, Mario von Rickenbach |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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