Should I ship a Cat Loot game?
Loot + Cats
Only 17 developers shipped a Cat Loot 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, Tap Tap Loot, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 24 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×5.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $2.4k. Revenue is up 540% on the market; 24 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) |
| Top 25% | $46k (exactly $46,344) |
| Top 5% | $171k (exactly $170,906) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 36 |
| Announced | 24 |
| 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 540% on the market, supply 225% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, 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
- Loot; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Incremental
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 2,706 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + ArcadeFair
Comparable games
Cat Quest 2017 · $3.3M 
Cat Quest II 2019 · $2.6M 
Cat Quest III 2024 · $1.9M 
Tap Tap Loot 2026 · $171k 
Captain Whiskers: Incremental Seas 2026 · $159k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cat Quest | older | $12.99 | 8,371 94% | 251k | $3.3M (exactly $3,262,179) | The Gentlebros |
| | Cat Quest II | older | $14.99 | 5,850 95% | 176k | $2.6M (exactly $2,630,745) | The Gentlebros |
| | Cat Quest III | older | $19.99 | 3,108 94% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,863,868) | The Gentlebros |
| | Tap Tap Loot | $6.99 | 815 76% | 24k | $171k (exactly $170,906) | Turtle Knight Games | |
| | Captain Whiskers: Incremental Seas | $5.99 | 886 85% | 27k | $159k (exactly $159,214) | Happy Universe Studios | |
 | Meowgic | $7.99 | 462 79% | 14k | $111k (exactly $110,741) | Lazy Turtle Games | |
 | Cladun X3 | $39.99 | 83 90% | 2.5k | $100k (exactly $99,575) | Nippon Ichi Software, Inc. | |
 | Tallowmere 2: Curse of the Kittens | older | $9.99 | 318 80% | 9.5k | $95k (exactly $95,305) | Chris McFarland |
 | LOOTPLOT | $6.99 | 221 94% | 6.6k | $46k (exactly $46,344) | CodeTheory Ltd | |
 | One Gun: Cat | older | $10.99 | 84 76% | 2.5k | $28k (exactly $27,695) | Erow.Dev |
 | CASSETTE BOY | $12.99 | 68 70% | 2.0k | $27k (exactly $26,500) | Wonderland Kazakiri inc. | |
 | Still It Runs | $9.99 | 70 48% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $20,979) | NAYUG, KADOKAWA | |
 | Idle Kitty | $4.99 | 64 82% | 1.9k | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) | 狮子 | |
 | Catfish Idle Pond | $4.99 | 23 100% | 690 | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) | Full Bridge LLC | |
 | Vampire Cat | $6.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $2.9k (exactly $2,936) | Hunt Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.