Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Farming Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Farming Sim City Builder?

City Builder + Farming Sim

Of 70 developers who shipped a Farming Sim City Builder 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.. 105 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.3k, ×5.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $2.2M, ×3615 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 105 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 105 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Farming Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 70
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.3k → $5.1k → $4.4k → $13k → $9.4k → $3.3k → $1.3k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Farming Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 70
Bottom 30% $718 (exactly $718)
Median $3.3k (exactly $3,293)
Top 25% $48k (exactly $48,160)
Top 5% $2.3M (exactly $2,270,092)
Developers, 2 yr 70
Released games 187
Announced 105
Effort 6 / 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 75% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

City Builder
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Farming Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
City Builder, Farming Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Building, Sandbox
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 59,022 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $3.3k, 1 in 4 over $48k, 1 in 20 over $2.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Visual NovelStrong odds10 devs · median $19k · 8 announced
  2. + LogicFair58 devs · median $3.3k · 74 announced
  3. + IncrementalFair75 devs · median $1.3k · 96 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair16 devs · median $1.3k · 20 announced
  5. + ArcadeFair28 devs · median $898 · 27 announced
  6. + RacingLong shot12 devs · median $299 · 9 announced
  7. + RomePoor odds9 devs · median $423k · 10 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  9. + HorrorPoor odds10 devs · median $157k · 21 announced
  10. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds17 devs · median $146k · 50 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds26 devs · median $108k · 47 announced

All 136 pairs on the City Builder page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Timberborn 2026 · $40M The Wandering Village 2025 · $7.0M Ostriv 2020 · EA · $5.1M Flotsam 2025 · $3.2M Littlewood 2020 · $2.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Timberborn $34.99 38,529 95% 1.2M $40M (exactly $40,443,891) Mechanistry
The Wandering Village $29.99 7,734 91% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,958,280) Stray Fawn Studio
Ostriv · EA older $24.99 6,866 94% 206k $5.1M (exactly $5,147,440) yevhen8
Flotsam $24.99 4,308 80% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) Pajama Llama Games
Littlewood older $14.99 6,083 93% 182k $2.7M (exactly $2,735,525) Sean Young
Eastern Era $24.99 3,028 65% 91k $2.3M (exactly $2,270,092) FunYoo Games
Autonauts older $19.99 3,596 90% 108k $2.2M (exactly $2,156,521) Denki
Farm Manager 2018 older $19.99 2,524 70% 76k $1.5M (exactly $1,513,643) Cleversan Games
Farm Manager 2021 older $19.99 2,296 79% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,376,911) Cleversan Games
Grow: Song of the Evertree older $24.99 1,782 83% 53k $1.3M (exactly $1,335,965) Prideful Sloth
Havendock $19.99 1,504 81% 45k $902k (exactly $901,949) YYZ Studio
Gnomes $9.99 1,757 94% 53k $527k (exactly $526,573) DYSTOPIAN
Chinese Frontiers $24.99 514 72% 15k $385k (exactly $385,346) SolidGames
Industry Giant 4.0 $24.99 506 33% 15k $379k (exactly $379,348) Don VS Dodo
Farm Manager World $19.99 605 68% 18k $363k (exactly $362,818) Cleversan Games
Viking Frontiers $19.99 537 51% 16k $322k (exactly $322,039) BLUM Entertainment

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