Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Collectathon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Collectathon Creature Collector?

Creature Collector + Collectathon

Of 184 developers who shipped a Collectathon Creature Collector 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.. 308 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×333 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 308 games are announced against 108 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.3 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 308 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Collectathon
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 184
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.7k → $5.7k → $3.7k → $3.0k → $6.3k → $2.6k → $1.9k (still earning) → $776 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Collectathon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 184
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,698)
Top 25% $21k (exactly $20,503)
Top 5% $209k (exactly $209,250)
Developers, 2 yr 184
Released games 580
Announced 308
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $1.99

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 flat on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Creature Collector, Collectathon; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Exploration
Price point
$1.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $1.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 85,604 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $20k, 1 in 20 over $200k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 168 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 308 games are announced against 108 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Creature Collector with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Perma DeathFair30 devs · median $5.3k · 33 announced
  2. + Bullet HellFair24 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  3. + CapitalismFair38 devs · median $3.2k · 38 announced
  4. + LootFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  5. + IdlerFair248 devs · median $2.1k · 260 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair177 devs · median $1.9k · 191 announced
  7. + Action RoguelikeFair39 devs · median $1.8k · 54 announced
  8. + SpaceFair30 devs · median $1.5k · 39 announced
  9. + ZombiesFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 10 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair73 devs · median $629 · 85 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds31 devs · median $28k · 82 announced
  12. + Dating SimPoor odds14 devs · median $23k · 43 announced

All 133 pairs on the Creature Collector page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Temtem 2022 · $42M Digimon Story Time Stranger 2025 · $33M WEBFISHING 2024 · $8.6M Cassette Beasts 2023 · $5.4M Coromon 2022 · $3.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Temtem older $44.99 31,263 82% 938k $42M (exactly $42,195,671) Crema
Digimon Story Time Stranger $69.99 15,845 89% 475k $33M (exactly $33,269,746) Media.Vision Inc.
WEBFISHING $4.99 57,353 97% 1.7M $8.6M (exactly $8,585,744) lamedeveloper
Cassette Beasts older $19.99 8,976 94% 269k $5.4M (exactly $5,382,907) Bytten Studio
Coromon older $19.99 6,327 85% 190k $3.8M (exactly $3,794,302) TRAGsoft
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure older $16.99 6,799 97% 204k $3.5M (exactly $3,465,450) ustwo games
Chillquarium older $5.99 7,780 92% 233k $1.4M (exactly $1,398,066) Ben Reber
DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince older $39.99 1,158 71% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,389,253) Square Enix
Siralim Ultimate older $19.99 2,145 92% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,286,356) Thylacine Studios
Tiny Aquarium: Social Fishkeeping $7.49 3,386 95% 102k $761k (exactly $760,834) Lunheim Studios
Sapphire Safari · EA $12.99 1,653 92% 50k $644k (exactly $644,174) Kinky Fridays
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle $18.99 950 71% 29k $541k (exactly $541,215) KTMG LLC.
Fish to Dish: Idle Sushi $5.99 2,525 96% 76k $454k (exactly $453,742) Kygua Tech
Flock Around $4.99 1,954 98% 59k $293k (exactly $292,514) Friend Shaped Games
9th Dawn Remake $15.99 514 86% 15k $247k (exactly $246,566) Valorware
A Building Full of Cats 2 $6.99 1,145 97% 34k $240k (exactly $240,106) Devcats
Botworld Odyssey $25.00 279 76% 8.4k $209k (exactly $209,250) Featherweight Games

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