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Should I ship a Collectathon Exploration game?
Collectathon + Exploration
Of 483 developers who shipped a Collectathon Exploration game 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.. 857 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $320; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×645 the market median. Revenue is up 105% on the market; 857 games are announced against 263 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $314 (exactly $314) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,294) |
| Top 5% | $306k (exactly $306,447) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 483 |
| Released games | 1,502 |
| Announced | 857 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 up 105% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Collectathon
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Collectathon, Exploration; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Colorful, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 29,239 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $320. 8 in 10 of the 345 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 857 games are announced against 263 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Collectathon with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CapitalismStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + ManagementFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Level EditorFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SokobanFair
- + MythologyFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Combat RacingFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Temtem | older | $44.99 | 31,263 82% | 938k | $42M (exactly $42,195,671) | Crema |
| | A Hat in Time | older | $29.99 | 42,863 97% | 1.3M | $39M (exactly $38,563,841) | Gears for Breakfast |
| | Supraland | older | $19.99 | 12,376 95% | 371k | $7.4M (exactly $7,421,887) | Supra Games |
| | Pumpkin Jack | older | $29.99 | 7,416 91% | 222k | $6.7M (exactly $6,672,175) | Evil Raptor |
| | Cassette Beasts | older | $19.99 | 8,976 94% | 269k | $5.4M (exactly $5,382,907) | Bytten Studio |
| | Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land | $69.99 | 2,534 64% | 76k | $5.3M (exactly $5,320,640) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Elin | · EA | $19.99 | 8,406 93% | 252k | $5.0M (exactly $5,041,078) | Lafrontier |
| | Webbed | older | $9.99 | 13,820 97% | 415k | $4.1M (exactly $4,141,854) | Sbug Games |
| | Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream | older | $59.99 | 2,166 94% | 65k | $3.9M (exactly $3,898,150) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | SimplePlanes | older | $12.99 | 9,811 93% | 294k | $3.8M (exactly $3,823,347) | Jundroo, LLC |
| | SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide | $39.99 | 1,151 93% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,380,855) | Purple Lamp | |
| | Supraworld | · EA | $29.99 | 1,471 91% | 44k | $1.3M (exactly $1,323,459) | Supra Games |
| | Teddy's Haven | · EA | $14.99 | 2,800 95% | 84k | $1.3M (exactly $1,259,160) | Teddy Bear Games LLC |
| | Yooka-Replaylee | $29.99 | 1,045 92% | 31k | $940k (exactly $940,186) | Playtonic Games | |
| | Farlands | $17.99 | 1,628 89% | 49k | $879k (exactly $878,632) | JanduSoft, Eric Rodríguez | |
| | Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town | $29.99 | 837 95% | 25k | $753k (exactly $753,049) | h.a.n.d., Inc. | |
| | Digseum | $2.99 | 8,033 97% | 241k | $721k (exactly $720,560) | Rat Monthly | |
| | Welcome to Elderfield | $17.99 | 1,334 87% | 40k | $720k (exactly $719,960) | Chris Cote |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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