Do I ship it?

GamesCity BuilderCity Builder + Romance

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Romance City Builder?

City Builder + Romance

Only 8 developers shipped a Romance 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, inZOI, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.5k against a market of $630. 17 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 2.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 17 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Romance
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 8

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for City Builder + Romance: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 8
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 25% $8.4k (exactly $8,396)
Top 5% $36M (exactly $36,014,994)
Developers, 2 yr 8
Released games 29
Announced 17
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 down 90% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Romance
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
City Builder
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $20.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 52,471 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $8.3k, 1 in 20 over $36M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 17 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

City Builder with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Visual NovelStrong odds10 devs · median $19k · 8 announced
  2. + LogicFair58 devs · median $3.3k · 74 announced
  3. + IncrementalFair75 devs · median $1.3k · 96 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair16 devs · median $1.3k · 20 announced
  5. + ArcadeFair28 devs · median $898 · 27 announced
  6. + RacingLong shot12 devs · median $299 · 9 announced
  7. + RomePoor odds9 devs · median $423k · 10 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  9. + HorrorPoor odds10 devs · median $157k · 21 announced
  10. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds17 devs · median $146k · 50 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds26 devs · median $108k · 47 announced

All 136 pairs on the City Builder page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
inZOI · EA $39.99 30,020 77% 901k $36M (exactly $36,014,994) inZOI Studio
Fabledom older $20.99 6,772 85% 203k $4.3M (exactly $4,264,328) Grenaa Games
Littlewood older $14.99 6,083 93% 182k $2.7M (exactly $2,735,525) Sean Young
Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition older $14.99 3,579 55% 107k $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) Klabater
Sword and Fairy Inn 2 older $19.99 2,013 49% 60k $1.2M (exactly $1,207,196) SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT
Cattails: Wildwood Story older $19.99 1,479 97% 44k $887k (exactly $886,956) Falcon Development
Slow living with Princess older $19.99 580 87% 17k $348k (exactly $347,826) KADOKAWA, TSUKURITE.
Buoyancy · EA older $12.99 808 54% 24k $315k (exactly $314,878) Devs on a Boat
Estate Agent Simulator · EA older $15.99 573 67% 17k $275k (exactly $274,868) Kiki Games
Space Colony: Steam Edition older $14.99 564 78% 17k $254k (exactly $253,631) Firefly Studios
Wall Town Wonders $19.99 14 78% 420 $8.4k (exactly $8,396) Cyborn B.V.
我就是建-I just build $4.99 17 94% 510 $2.5k (exactly $2,545) Kwing works
Monmusu Island $4.99 10 70% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Pjoy Games
Dungeon Explorers $12.99 3 33% 90 $1.2k (exactly $1,169) C.M.Cas Games
生计与沉冤 $3.99 3 66% 90 $359 (exactly $359) XGame游戏工作室
Way of the Wind $2.99 1 0% 30 $90 (exactly $90) WastedWaffle
ゼロから始まる終わりの村/The Village of the End Starting from Zero $3.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) みずブル

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.