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Should I ship an Idler City Builder?
City Builder + Idler
Of 95 developers who shipped an Idler 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.. 147 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×758 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 147 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $594 (exactly $594) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,525) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,076) |
| Top 5% | $476k (exactly $475,924) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 95 |
| Released games | 174 |
| Announced | 147 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Idler
- effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Idler; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 13,698 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 147 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + LogicFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + RacingLong shot
- + RomePoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim 2025 · $2.2M 
Farm Manager 2021 2021 · $1.4M 
Microcivilization 2026 · $776k 
Crusaders Quest : Hero Town 2026 · $538k 
Hearth and Hamlet 2026 · $491k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim | $24.90 | 2,938 77% | 88k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,686) | Rockbee Team | |
| | Farm Manager 2021 | older | $19.99 | 2,296 79% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,376,911) | Cleversan Games |
| | Microcivilization | $17.99 | 1,437 78% | 43k | $776k (exactly $775,549) | Ondrej Homola | |
| | Crusaders Quest : Hero Town | $6.99 | 2,564 76% | 77k | $538k (exactly $537,671) | CQ LABS | |
| | Hearth and Hamlet | $7.99 | 2,050 79% | 62k | $491k (exactly $491,385) | Phorust Studios | |
 | Birdwatching Notebook | $9.99 | 1,588 97% | 48k | $476k (exactly $475,924) | Biekka Games | |
 | IDLE BOSS RUSH | $9.99 | 820 66% | 25k | $246k (exactly $245,754) | Irid Games | |
 | My Little Life | $5.99 | 1,043 89% | 31k | $187k (exactly $187,427) | 9FingerGames | |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | Factory Town Idle | older | $4.99 | 1,232 90% | 37k | $184k (exactly $184,430) | Erik Asmussen |
 | Berserk B.I.T.S | $6.99 | 667 81% | 20k | $140k (exactly $139,870) | BerserkBoy Games | |
 | STARIO: Haven Tower | · EA | $13.99 | 280 93% | 8.4k | $118k (exactly $117,516) | Stargate Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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