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Should I ship a Point & Click City Builder?
City Builder + Point & Click
Of 25 developers who shipped a Point & Click 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.. 38 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $990, ×1.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×221 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 38 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $989 (exactly $989) |
| Top 25% | $5.2k (exactly $5,240) |
| Top 5% | $139k (exactly $139,061) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 38 |
| 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 10% 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
- Point & Click
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Point & Click; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Sandbox, Building
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 2,896 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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
Immortal Family 2024 · $509k 
Birdwatching Notebook 2026 · $476k 
Arcade Tycoon ™ : Simulation Game 2021 · $203k 
Factory Town Idle 2024 · $184k 
Midori no Kaori 2025 · $139k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Immortal Family | older | $13.99 | 1,213 54% | 36k | $509k (exactly $509,096) | 一起来修仙工作室 |
| | Birdwatching Notebook | $9.99 | 1,588 97% | 48k | $476k (exactly $475,924) | Biekka Games | |
| | Arcade Tycoon ™ : Simulation Game | older | $14.99 | 452 80% | 14k | $203k (exactly $203,264) | Squidpunch Studios, Vincent Ltd |
| | Factory Town Idle | older | $4.99 | 1,232 90% | 37k | $184k (exactly $184,430) | Erik Asmussen |
| | Midori no Kaori | $9.99 | 464 94% | 14k | $139k (exactly $139,061) | TheLaba | |
 | Bunny Park | older | $4.99 | 692 90% | 21k | $104k (exactly $103,592) | Cozy Bee Games |
 | Desk Garden | $2.99 | 476 84% | 14k | $43k (exactly $42,697) | Siesta Studio | |
 | Cruise Ship Manager | older | $9.99 | 119 38% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $35,664) | Image Power S.A. |
 | Milord | · EA | $9.99 | 104 64% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $31,169) | iBright Games |
 | Townframe | $6.99 | 106 94% | 3.2k | $22k (exactly $22,228) | norrimo | |
 | Birdfull | $4.99 | 62 96% | 1.9k | $9.3k (exactly $9,281) | BurGum Games | |
 | Dworf's Forbidden Gold | $4.99 | 35 57% | 1.1k | $5.2k (exactly $5,240) | Hadamant | |
 | Oil Empire | $4.99 | 32 40% | 960 | $4.8k (exactly $4,790) | Digital Deer Studio | |
 | Just A Village Clicker | $4.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) | Ankouz Studios | |
 | Work Adventure | $3.99 | 16 62% | 480 | $1.9k (exactly $1,915) | DevBandeira |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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