Games › City Builder › City Builder + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Visual Novel City Builder?
City Builder + Visual Novel
Only 10 developers shipped a Visual Novel 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, The Succession of Changing Kings, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 8 more are announced.
Verdict: strong odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $19k, ×31 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $4.8k. Revenue is up 935% on the market; 8 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×1.3 per shipper.
| Bottom 30% | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) |
|---|---|
| Median | $19k (exactly $19,181) |
| Top 25% | $45k (exactly $44,985) |
| Top 5% | $146k (exactly $145,954) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 27 |
| Announced | 8 |
| 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 up 935% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,248 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.9k. 8 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + 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
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
Comparable games
Yog-Sothoth’s Yard 2023 · $3.4M 
The Succession of Changing Kings 2026 · $146k 
Midori no Kaori 2025 · $139k 
Tristia:legacy 2023 · $124k 
I Am Your President 2023 · $118k | 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 |
| | The Succession of Changing Kings | $9.99 | 487 86% | 15k | $146k (exactly $145,954) | KwaKwaGames | |
| | Midori no Kaori | $9.99 | 464 94% | 14k | $139k (exactly $139,061) | TheLaba | |
| | Tristia:legacy | older | $59.99 | 69 89% | 2.1k | $124k (exactly $124,179) | KOGADO STUDIO |
| | I Am Your President | older | $14.99 | 263 66% | 7.9k | $118k (exactly $118,271) | President |
 | HAREM！RANCH LIFE | older | $17.99 | 208 70% | 6.2k | $112k (exactly $112,258) | GNT BOKUJO |
 | How a Retired Strategist Saved the Country | older | $13.99 | 246 90% | 7.4k | $103k (exactly $103,246) | tomadan |
 | Mistwinter Bay | $29.99 | 50 84% | 1.5k | $45k (exactly $44,985) | Swordlake Entertainment | |
 | Heroic Songs: the Remix! | $16.99 | 56 92% | 1.7k | $29k (exactly $28,543) | Emma Create | |
 | Coffee Noir - Business Detective Game | older | $8.99 | 72 65% | 2.2k | $19k (exactly $19,418) | DOJI, NAOS Software, Darkpowder |
 | PurrPlate | $9.99 | 64 68% | 1.9k | $19k (exactly $19,181) | LeankomGames | |
 | Market Simulator | $4.99 | 33 75% | 990 | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) | KOZGAMES | |
 | The Three Kingdoms of Shadows: Xuzhou | $6.99 | 23 82% | 690 | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) | 鹏砚 | |
 | Ages of Cataria | · EA | $9.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) | Third Pie Studios |
 | 双雄风流传（Romantic Emperor） | $2.18 | 53 86% | 1.6k | $3.5k (exactly $3,466) | Turtle game | |
 | Coaching Simulator | · EA | $1.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $119 (exactly $119) | Anopia Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.