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Should I ship a Mythological City Builder?
City Builder + Mythology
Only 18 developers shipped a Mythological City Builder in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Microcivilization, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $19k, ×30 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $770k, ×1235 the market median. Revenue is up 185% on the market; 34 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) |
|---|---|
| Median | $19k (exactly $18,708) |
| Top 25% | $276k (exactly $276,462) |
| Top 5% | $776k (exactly $775,549) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 48 |
| Announced | 34 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 185% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Mythology
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder; all of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Building, Strategy
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 4,062 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 5 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different setting or mood, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Yog-Sothoth’s Yard | older | $10.99 | 10,207 93% | 306k | $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) | Bone Nail |
| | Land of the Vikings | older | $25.99 | 1,960 72% | 59k | $1.5M (exactly $1,528,212) | Laps Games |
| | Gord | older | $49.99 | 809 53% | 24k | $1.2M (exactly $1,213,257) | Covenant.dev |
| | Microcivilization | $17.99 | 1,437 78% | 43k | $776k (exactly $775,549) | Ondrej Homola | |
| | Actraiser Renaissance | older | $29.99 | 708 74% | 21k | $637k (exactly $636,988) | Square Enix, Sonic Powered |
| | Zeus + Poseidon | older | $9.99 | 1,915 96% | 57k | $574k (exactly $573,926) | Impressions Games |
| | Celestial Empire | · EA | $19.99 | 709 89% | 21k | $425k (exactly $425,187) | President Studio |
| | Builders of Greece | $19.99 | 537 54% | 16k | $322k (exactly $322,039) | BLUM Entertainment, Strategy Labs | |
| | Night is Coming | · EA | $24.99 | 387 59% | 12k | $290k (exactly $290,134) | Wild Forest Studio |
| | Blood Rage: Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 477 58% | 14k | $286k (exactly $286,057) | Endava |
| | Builders of Egypt | $19.99 | 461 31% | 14k | $276k (exactly $276,462) | Strategy Labs | |
| | These Doomed Isles | $14.99 | 180 66% | 5.4k | $81k (exactly $80,946) | Triplevision Games Limited | |
| | Goblin Camp | $19.99 | 118 76% | 3.5k | $71k (exactly $70,765) | Korppi Games Ltd | |
| | ArkCraft: The Rebirth of the World | $10.99 | 181 71% | 5.4k | $60k (exactly $59,676) | ZD Yazilim | |
| | Realms of Madness | $15.99 | 39 89% | 1.2k | $19k (exactly $18,708) | Robin van der Horst | |
| | WarOfGods 2 | $29.99 | 13 76% | 390 | $12k (exactly $11,696) | Mensa World |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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