Do I ship it?

GamesCollectathonCollectathon + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Collectathon game?

Collectathon + Horror

Of 113 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 123 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 123 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 123 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Collectathon + Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 113
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $750 → $1.9k → $2.1k → $538 → $1.3k → $449 → $449 (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Collectathon + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 113
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $718 (exactly $718)
Top 25% $4.7k (exactly $4,672)
Top 5% $88k (exactly $88,072)
Developers, 2 yr 113
Released games 276
Announced 123
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 down 15% on the market, supply 25% 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.

Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Horror
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Collectathon; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 4,520 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $720, 1 in 4 over $4.6k, 1 in 20 over $88k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 65 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 123 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Collectathon with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds33 devs · median $33k · 42 announced
  2. + CapitalismStrong odds76 devs · median $6.2k · 75 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair7 devs · median $14k · 8 announced
  4. + EconomyFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  5. + ManagementFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  6. + CrimeFair10 devs · median $3.4k · 14 announced
  7. + Level EditorFair15 devs · median $3.4k · 17 announced
  8. + Artificial IntelligenceFair46 devs · median $2.7k · 30 announced
  9. + SokobanFair12 devs · median $2.4k · 9 announced
  10. + MythologyFair18 devs · median $2.4k · 20 announced
  11. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $2.3k · 37 announced
  12. + Combat RacingFair10 devs · median $2.2k · 12 announced

All 178 pairs on the Collectathon page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cookie Clicker older $4.99 87,916 96% 2.6M $13M (exactly $13,161,025) Orteil, DashNet
Lunch Lady older $4.99 9,722 86% 292k $1.5M (exactly $1,455,383) Manic Mice
Welcome to Elderfield $17.99 1,334 87% 40k $720k (exactly $719,960) Chris Cote
Boo Men · EA older $7.99 2,088 88% 63k $500k (exactly $500,494) Twisted Corridor👻
A Castle Full of Cats older $3.99 4,073 99% 122k $488k (exactly $487,538) Devcats
Night Raider older $5.99 1,908 85% 57k $343k (exactly $342,868) TSUKUYOMIC
Enter The Backrooms older $9.99 986 87% 30k $296k (exactly $295,504) Justin Kroh
Paranormal Cleanup $9.99 961 88% 29k $288k (exactly $288,012) Manic Mice
Penko Park older $13.99 602 98% 18k $253k (exactly $252,659) Ghostbutter
Orbo's Odyssey older $4.99 1,499 98% 45k $224k (exactly $224,400) Feverdream Johnny, drurylain
Hachishaku $9.99 456 85% 14k $137k (exactly $136,663) Trash Panda Games
PsiloSybil $12.99 232 85% 7.0k $90k (exactly $90,410) bad_vertex
Fishing The Abyss $6.99 421 95% 13k $88k (exactly $88,284) umaaaaaa studio
Mosaic of the Strange $12.99 226 92% 6.8k $88k (exactly $88,072) Mark Ffrench
LORED · EA $9.99 231 80% 6.9k $69k (exactly $69,231) Dillon Simpson
One Man´s Trash $6.85 308 84% 9.2k $63k (exactly $63,294) Jony Pazu Games
Cumrooms $11.99 166 86% 5.0k $60k (exactly $59,710) Moon Loom Studio
Interdimensional Vending Machine $7.99 185 84% 5.6k $44k (exactly $44,344) Neuroticfly Games

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