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Should I ship a Mining City Builder?
City Builder + Mining
Of 27 developers who shipped a Mining 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.. 55 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 $4.8k, ×7.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×257 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 55 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,788) |
| Top 25% | $32k (exactly $31,555) |
| Top 5% | $162k (exactly $161,654) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 63 |
| Announced | 55 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 flat on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.
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
- Mining
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Mining; all of the top 25% also carry Building, Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 62% positive over 2,133 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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
Captain of Industry 2022 · EA · $12M 
Automation Empire 2019 · $2.3M 
Thriving City: Song 2024 · $1.7M 
Cattails: Wildwood Story 2023 · $887k 
Aground 2020 · $820k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Captain of Industry | · EA older | $34.99 | 11,027 90% | 331k | $12M (exactly $11,575,042) | MaFi Games |
| | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
| | Thriving City: Song | older | $18.99 | 3,054 81% | 92k | $1.7M (exactly $1,739,864) | White Star Studio |
| | Cattails: Wildwood Story | older | $19.99 | 1,479 97% | 44k | $887k (exactly $886,956) | Falcon Development |
| | Aground | older | $14.99 | 1,823 94% | 55k | $820k (exactly $819,803) | Fancy Fish Games, SnöBox Studio |
 | Odd Realm | older | $19.99 | 954 84% | 29k | $572k (exactly $572,114) | Unknown Origin Games Inc |
 | Industry Giant 4.0 | $24.99 | 506 33% | 15k | $379k (exactly $379,348) | Don VS Dodo | |
 | Space Colony: Steam Edition | older | $14.99 | 564 78% | 17k | $254k (exactly $253,631) | Firefly Studios |
 | Rise of Industry 2 | $34.99 | 154 55% | 4.6k | $162k (exactly $161,654) | SomaSim | |
 | Creator Chronicles | $11.99 | 424 64% | 13k | $153k (exactly $152,513) | Origin Studio | |
 | Loafing Town | $6.99 | 531 85% | 16k | $111k (exactly $111,351) | GoblinZz | |
 | MegaFactory Titan | $19.99 | 150 76% | 4.5k | $90k (exactly $89,955) | Q Switched Productions, LLC | |
 | Wild West Miner Simulator | $5.99 | 181 66% | 5.4k | $33k (exactly $32,526) | Digital Melody | |
 | Cavern Adventurers | $8.99 | 117 48% | 3.5k | $32k (exactly $31,555) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd | |
 | ExoColony: Planet Survival | $11.99 | 26 69% | 780 | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) | Simplemole | |
 | The HELL | · EA | $9.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | METROPOLICE |
 | Fantasy World / 幻想世界 | $19.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $8.4k (exactly $8,396) | Fantasy Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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