Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Cats
Should I ship a Cat Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Cats
Of 281 developers who shipped a Cat 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.. 334 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×10 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 334 games are announced against 180 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $4.3k (exactly $4,298) |
| Top 5% | $82k (exactly $82,482) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 281 |
| Released games | 1,093 |
| Announced | 334 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $1.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Hidden Object, Point & Click, Adventure
- Price point
- $1.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $1.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 24,251 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 259 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 334 games are announced against 180 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
- + CookingFair
Comparable games
Stray 2022 · $142M 
BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M 
A Little to the Left 2022 · $7.6M 
Strange Horticulture 2022 · $7.1M 
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023 · $5.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stray | older | $29.99 | 157,579 97% | 4.7M | $142M (exactly $141,773,826) | BlueTwelve Studio |
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | A Little to the Left | older | $14.99 | 16,885 91% | 507k | $7.6M (exactly $7,593,184) | Max Inferno |
| | Strange Horticulture | older | $15.99 | 14,867 94% | 446k | $7.1M (exactly $7,131,700) | Bad Viking |
| | Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective | older | $29.99 | 6,429 97% | 193k | $5.8M (exactly $5,784,171) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | In Sound Mind | older | $34.99 | 5,467 95% | 164k | $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) | We Create Stuff |
 | A Space for the Unbound | older | $19.99 | 7,161 97% | 215k | $4.3M (exactly $4,294,452) | Mojiken |
 | Cat Goes Fishing | older | $6.99 | 15,431 94% | 463k | $3.2M (exactly $3,235,881) | Cat5Games |
 | Blacksad: Under the Skin | older | $19.99 | 5,356 83% | 161k | $3.2M (exactly $3,211,993) | Pendulo Studios, YS Interactive |
 | while True: learn() | older | $12.99 | 7,350 91% | 221k | $2.9M (exactly $2,864,295) | Luden.io |
 | Cat Mail Co. | $14.99 | 6,289 92% | 189k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,163) | Maracas Studio | |
 | Strange Antiquities | $17.99 | 3,288 95% | 99k | $1.8M (exactly $1,774,534) | Bad Viking | |
 | OneShot: World Machine Edition | $9.99 | 5,349 98% | 160k | $1.6M (exactly $1,603,095) | Future Cat LLC | |
 | OFF | $14.99 | 3,093 95% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,390,922) | Mortis Ghost, Fangamer | |
 | Find Matt's Cats | $19.99 | 719 98% | 22k | $431k (exactly $431,184) | Matt Roszak | |
 | Schrodinger's Cat Burglar | $19.99 | 613 97% | 18k | $368k (exactly $367,616) | Abandoned Sheep | |
 | A Building Full of Cats 2 | $6.99 | 1,145 97% | 34k | $240k (exactly $240,106) | Devcats | |
 | Urban Jungle | $11.99 | 667 90% | 20k | $240k (exactly $239,920) | KYLYK | |
 | HER TREES : PUZZLE DREAM | $3.99 | 1,936 97% | 58k | $232k (exactly $231,739) | Stone | |
 | A Shelter Full of Cats | $4.99 | 1,152 97% | 35k | $172k (exactly $172,454) | Devcats |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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