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Should I ship a Historical Collectathon game?
Collectathon + Historical
Of 25 developers who shipped a Historical Collectathon 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.. 33 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×341 the market median. Revenue is up 625% on the market; 33 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) |
| Top 25% | $7.0k (exactly $7,008) |
| Top 5% | $214k (exactly $214,093) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 64 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 625% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Collectathon; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Logic, Incremental
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 2,732 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Collectathon with a different setting or mood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hidden Through Time | older | $7.99 | 2,807 93% | 84k | $673k (exactly $672,838) | Rogueside |
| | Proverbs | $8.99 | 1,786 96% | 54k | $482k (exactly $481,684) | Mark Ffrench | |
| | A Tower Full of Cats | older | $5.99 | 2,304 99% | 69k | $414k (exactly $414,029) | Devcats |
| | Samurai Bringer | older | $9.99 | 1,012 87% | 30k | $303k (exactly $303,296) | ALPHAWING Inc. |
| | Juufuutei Raden™'s Guide for Pixel Museum | $19.99 | 357 98% | 11k | $214k (exactly $214,093) | Jupiter Corporation | |
| | Mosaic of The Pharaohs | $8.99 | 297 92% | 8.9k | $80k (exactly $80,101) | Mark Ffrench | |
| | ARIDA: Backland's Awakening | older | $3.39 | 634 91% | 19k | $64k (exactly $64,478) | Aoca Game Lab |
| | Treasures of the Aegean | older | $19.99 | 82 86% | 2.5k | $49k (exactly $49,175) | Undercoders |
| | Mewseum: Masterpieces | $6.99 | 133 98% | 4.0k | $28k (exactly $27,890) | Climbing Goat Games | |
| | Tropicalia: a Brazilian Game | older | $14.99 | 61 90% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $27,432) | Paulo Henrique Franqueira |
| | 戦国英雄譚-Samurai Heroes- | $9.99 | 47 89% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,086) | hizaniya games | |
| | Retro Relics | $9.99 | 30 90% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | HistoryXPlorer | |
| | Derby Heroines: Run, Bet, Win! | $14.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) | SHINISE GAMES, MFC STUDIO | |
| | I Eat Paintings When Guards Aren't Looking | $5.99 | 39 97% | 1.2k | $7.0k (exactly $7,008) | Frog & Dove Games | |
| | UNDERGROUNDED | $19.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $4.2k (exactly $4,198) | Game Studio Inc. | |
| | Mewseum: Film Festival | $6.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $4.0k (exactly $3,984) | Climbing Goat Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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