Games › Collectathon › Collectathon + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Collectathon game?
Collectathon + Robots
Of 23 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 52 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×14 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×674 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 52 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $537 (exactly $537) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.0k (exactly $8,985) |
| Top 25% | $78k (exactly $77,695) |
| Top 5% | $423k (exactly $423,388) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 67 |
| Announced | 52 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Robots
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Collectathon; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 3,544 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 6 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 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
Metal Bringer 2025 · $665k 
Astronomics 2025 · EA · $423k 
World End Diner 2025 · $212k 
Botworld Odyssey 2024 · $209k 
Boti: Byteland Overclocked 2023 · $177k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Metal Bringer | $19.99 | 1,109 87% | 33k | $665k (exactly $665,067) | ALPHAWING Inc. | |
| | Astronomics | · EA | $19.99 | 706 89% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Numizmatic |
| | World End Diner | $16.99 | 415 93% | 12k | $212k (exactly $211,525) | Andymente | |
| | Botworld Odyssey | $25.00 | 279 76% | 8.4k | $209k (exactly $209,250) | Featherweight Games | |
| | Boti: Byteland Overclocked | older | $19.99 | 295 68% | 8.9k | $177k (exactly $176,912) | Purple Ray Studio |
 | Fishing The Abyss | $6.99 | 421 95% | 13k | $88k (exactly $88,284) | umaaaaaa studio | |
 | ROLLING STAR | $11.99 | 216 96% | 6.5k | $78k (exactly $77,695) | NUL2 STUDIO | |
 | Misc. A Tiny Tale | $19.99 | 112 99% | 3.4k | $67k (exactly $67,166) | Tinyware Games | |
 | Chipmatic | $11.99 | 158 65% | 4.7k | $57k (exactly $56,833) | Molter | |
 | Broken Lens | older | $6.99 | 248 88% | 7.4k | $52k (exactly $52,006) | Team RUN |
 | ACUVAC: A Suck and Blow Adventure | $14.99 | 54 98% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $24,284) | Curdle Games, Mr_Afroduck | |
 | The Last Craftsman | $9.99 | 74 94% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $22,178) | AuraTummyache |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.