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Should I ship an Inventory Management City Builder?
City Builder + Inventory Management
Of 42 developers who shipped an Inventory Management 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.. 69 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $460k, ×738 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 69 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $33,583) |
| Top 5% | $464k (exactly $463,568) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 42 |
| Released games | 83 |
| Announced | 69 |
| 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 180% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Inventory Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Inventory Management; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Base Building, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 6,710 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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
Pharaoh™: A New Era 2023 · $3.3M 
Thriving City: Song 2024 · $1.7M 
Farm Manager 2018 2018 · $1.5M 
Farm Manager 2021 2021 · $1.4M 
Mall Simulator 2025 · EA · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Pharaoh™: A New Era | older | $22.99 | 4,811 75% | 144k | $3.3M (exactly $3,318,147) | Triskell Interactive |
| | Thriving City: Song | older | $18.99 | 3,054 81% | 92k | $1.7M (exactly $1,739,864) | White Star Studio |
| | 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 |
| | Mall Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 3,139 82% | 94k | $1.3M (exactly $1,317,438) | F13 Games |
 | Microcivilization | $17.99 | 1,437 78% | 43k | $776k (exactly $775,549) | Ondrej Homola | |
 | SimCasino | older | $24.99 | 687 74% | 21k | $515k (exactly $515,044) | LVGameDev LLC |
 | Blood Bar Tycoon | $19.99 | 773 79% | 23k | $464k (exactly $463,568) | Clever Trickster Studio, Clever Trickst… (Clever Trickster Studio, Clever Trickster Productions) | |
 | City Tales - Medieval Era | $22.99 | 543 90% | 16k | $375k (exactly $374,507) | Irregular Shapes | |
 | Reactor Tech² | older | $14.99 | 353 68% | 11k | $159k (exactly $158,744) | 4Co |
 | A Hero's Rest: An RPG Town Simulator | $24.99 | 160 67% | 4.8k | $120k (exactly $119,952) | Vanargand Games | |
 | Time to Morp | $19.99 | 178 79% | 5.3k | $107k (exactly $106,747) | Team HalfBeard | |
 | Entertainment Simulator | $18.99 | 181 73% | 5.4k | $103k (exactly $103,116) | Grizzbera Studio | |
 | SkyShard: City Battler | · EA | $14.99 | 106 97% | 3.2k | $48k (exactly $47,668) | ItsBen321 |
 | Exark | $14.99 | 99 73% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $44,520) | Robot Cat Limited | |
 | Service Please | · EA | $11.99 | 94 78% | 2.8k | $34k (exactly $33,812) | Dynamic Dice |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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