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Should I ship a Collectathon Life Sim?
Collectathon + Life Sim
Of 130 developers who shipped a Collectathon Life Sim 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.. 190 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×6.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×636 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 190 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $535 (exactly $535) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 25% | $39k (exactly $39,424) |
| Top 5% | $302k (exactly $302,129) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 130 |
| Released games | 246 |
| Announced | 190 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.20 |
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 40% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Life Sim
- 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, Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $6.20 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.20.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 63,801 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 7 in 10 of the 63 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 190 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Travellers Rest | · EA older | $17.99 | 16,538 87% | 496k | $8.9M (exactly $8,925,559) | Isolated Games |
| | Tiny Bookshop | $19.99 | 6,967 96% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,178,110) | neoludic games | |
| | Cozy Grove | older | $14.99 | 7,512 89% | 225k | $3.4M (exactly $3,378,146) | Spry Fox |
| | Littlewood | older | $14.99 | 6,083 93% | 182k | $2.7M (exactly $2,735,525) | Sean Young |
| | Ogu and the Secret Forest | older | $24.99 | 1,817 94% | 55k | $1.4M (exactly $1,362,205) | Moonlab Studio, Sinkhole Studio |
| | Teddy's Haven | · EA | $14.99 | 2,800 95% | 84k | $1.3M (exactly $1,259,160) | Teddy Bear Games LLC |
| | Placid Plastic Duck Simulator | older | $1.99 | 17,846 97% | 535k | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,406) | turbolento games |
| | Farlands | $17.99 | 1,628 89% | 49k | $879k (exactly $878,632) | JanduSoft, Eric Rodríguez | |
| | Supercar Collection Simulator | $12.99 | 1,528 85% | 46k | $595k (exactly $595,462) | Kiki Games | |
| | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
| | Cinnabunny | $24.99 | 403 96% | 12k | $302k (exactly $302,129) | Reky Studios | |
| | Anime Shop Simulator ✨ | $14.99 | 589 73% | 18k | $265k (exactly $264,873) | One More Time | |
| | World End Diner | $16.99 | 415 93% | 12k | $212k (exactly $211,525) | Andymente | |
| | Monster Lab Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 505 70% | 15k | $197k (exactly $196,798) | Round 3 Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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