Games › City Builder › City Builder + Trains
Should I ship a Train City Builder?
City Builder + Trains
Of 32 developers who shipped a Train 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.. 35 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $16k, ×26 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $630k, ×1005 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 35 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) |
|---|---|
| Median | $16k (exactly $16,484) |
| Top 25% | $116k (exactly $115,964) |
| Top 5% | $631k (exactly $631,042) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 111 |
| Announced | 35 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Trains
- 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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sandbox, Building, Resource Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 5,111 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.8k. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Factorio 2020 · $201M 
Transport Fever 2 2019 · $32M 
Train Simulator Classic 2015 · $18M 
Captain of Industry 2022 · EA · $12M 
Transport Fever 2016 · $8.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Factorio | older | $35.00 | 191,814 97% | 5.8M | $201M (exactly $201,404,700) | Wube Software LTD. |
| | Transport Fever 2 | older | $39.99 | 26,714 89% | 801k | $32M (exactly $32,048,786) | Urban Games |
| | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
| | Captain of Industry | · EA older | $34.99 | 11,027 90% | 331k | $12M (exactly $11,575,042) | MaFi Games |
| | Transport Fever | older | $29.99 | 9,278 82% | 278k | $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) | Urban Games |
 | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | Railway Empire 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,966 72% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
 | Factory Town | older | $19.99 | 4,142 90% | 124k | $2.5M (exactly $2,483,957) | Erik Asmussen |
 | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
 | Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure | $29.99 | 1,867 82% | 56k | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) | Massive Miniteam | |
 | City Transport Simulator 2026 - Bus & Tram | $39.99 | 526 73% | 16k | $631k (exactly $631,042) | ViewApp | |
 | Subway Builder | $39.99 | 394 59% | 12k | $473k (exactly $472,682) | Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher,… (Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher, Nate Maue, Alex Wohlbruck, Piero Maddaleni, Brooks Flannery) | |
 | Railroad Corporation 2 | $39.99 | 376 69% | 11k | $451k (exactly $451,087) | Corbie Games | |
 | Mini Settlers | $12.99 | 592 85% | 18k | $231k (exactly $230,702) | Knight Owl Games | |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | Steel Artery: Train City Builder | $14.99 | 305 71% | 9.2k | $137k (exactly $137,158) | SoulAge23 | |
 | Islands & Trains | $6.99 | 553 89% | 17k | $116k (exactly $115,964) | Akos Makovics | |
 | Factory Town 2: Paradise | · EA | $24.99 | 151 89% | 4.5k | $113k (exactly $113,205) | Erik Asmussen |
 | A-Train 9 V5.0 : Japan Train Simulator Ultimate Edition | $39.99 | 36 77% | 1.1k | $43k (exactly $43,189) | ARTDINK |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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