Games › City Builder › City Builder + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle City Builder?
City Builder + Puzzle
Of 85 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 115 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×184 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 115 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $598 (exactly $598) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,579) |
| Top 5% | $115k (exactly $115,384) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 85 |
| Released games | 297 |
| Announced | 115 |
| 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 up 100% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Building, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Colorful, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 4,480 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 115 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
Dorfromantik 2022 · $12M 
Mini Motorways 2021 · $7.1M 
Terra Nil 2023 · $6.0M 
ISLANDERS 2019 · $2.4M 
Rail Route 2024 · $1.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dorfromantik | older | $13.99 | 27,441 96% | 823k | $12M (exactly $11,516,988) | Toukana Interactive |
| | Mini Motorways | older | $9.99 | 23,561 96% | 707k | $7.1M (exactly $7,061,232) | Dinosaur Polo Club |
| | Terra Nil | older | $24.99 | 8,035 87% | 241k | $6.0M (exactly $6,023,840) | Free Lives, Clockwork Acorn |
| | ISLANDERS | older | $4.99 | 16,104 94% | 483k | $2.4M (exactly $2,410,769) | Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Stu… (Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Studios) |
| | Rail Route | older | $24.99 | 2,400 88% | 72k | $1.8M (exactly $1,799,280) | Bitrich.info |
 | Reus 2 | older | $24.99 | 2,133 94% | 64k | $1.6M (exactly $1,599,110) | Abbey Games |
 | Cloud Gardens | older | $17.99 | 2,102 95% | 63k | $1.1M (exactly $1,134,449) | Noio |
 | RAILGRADE | older | $29.99 | 1,205 84% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,084,138) | Minakata Dynamics |
 | Urbek City Builder | older | $18.99 | 1,830 89% | 55k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,551) | Fridus |
 | TerraScape | older | $14.99 | 2,068 88% | 62k | $930k (exactly $929,980) | Bitfall Studios |
 | ISLANDERS: New Shores | $9.99 | 1,230 96% | 37k | $369k (exactly $368,631) | The Station | |
 | Dawnfolk | $14.99 | 664 94% | 20k | $299k (exactly $298,601) | Darenn Keller | |
 | Preserve | $12.49 | 690 92% | 21k | $259k (exactly $258,543) | Bitmap Galaxy | |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | GRIDROAD | $9.99 | 385 82% | 12k | $115k (exactly $115,384) | RAJACORP | |
 | Technotopia | $4.99 | 599 86% | 18k | $90k (exactly $89,670) | Yustas | |
 | Check Inn | $14.99 | 197 84% | 5.9k | $89k (exactly $88,591) | KishMish Games | |
 | River Towns | $14.99 | 184 89% | 5.5k | $83k (exactly $82,745) | Frogsong Studios | |
 | Bubblegum Galaxy | $13.99 | 114 100% | 3.4k | $48k (exactly $47,846) | Smarto Club | |
 | SkyShard: City Battler | · EA | $14.99 | 106 97% | 3.2k | $48k (exactly $47,668) | ItsBen321 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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