Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Collectathon
Should I ship a Collectathon Sandbox?
Sandbox + Collectathon
Of 166 developers who shipped a Collectathon Sandbox 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.. 244 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×4.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×674 the market median. Revenue is up 130% on the market; 244 games are announced against 113 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) |
| Top 25% | $33k (exactly $33,124) |
| Top 5% | $423k (exactly $423,388) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 166 |
| Released games | 329 |
| Announced | 244 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 130% on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Collectathon
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Collectathon; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Open World
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 124,850 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 69 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 244 games are announced against 113 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
WEBFISHING 2024 · $8.6M 
Elin 2024 · EA · $5.0M 
SimplePlanes 2015 · $3.8M 
Bang-On Balls: Chronicles 2023 · $3.2M | 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 | |
| | WEBFISHING | $4.99 | 57,353 97% | 1.7M | $8.6M (exactly $8,585,744) | lamedeveloper | |
| | Elin | · EA | $19.99 | 8,406 93% | 252k | $5.0M (exactly $5,041,078) | Lafrontier |
| | SimplePlanes | older | $12.99 | 9,811 93% | 294k | $3.8M (exactly $3,823,347) | Jundroo, LLC |
| | Bang-On Balls: Chronicles | older | $24.99 | 4,334 96% | 130k | $3.2M (exactly $3,249,200) | Exit Plan Games |
 | Littlewood | older | $14.99 | 6,083 93% | 182k | $2.7M (exactly $2,735,525) | Sean Young |
 | Squirrel with a Gun | older | $19.99 | 3,112 86% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,866,266) | Dee Dee Creations LLC |
 | Outpath | older | $14.99 | 2,898 92% | 87k | $1.3M (exactly $1,303,231) | David Moralejo Sánchez |
 | Teddy's Haven | · EA | $14.99 | 2,800 95% | 84k | $1.3M (exactly $1,259,160) | Teddy Bear Games LLC |
 | Farlands | $17.99 | 1,628 89% | 49k | $879k (exactly $878,632) | JanduSoft, Eric Rodríguez | |
 | Welcome to Elderfield | $17.99 | 1,334 87% | 40k | $720k (exactly $719,960) | Chris Cote | |
 | Sledding Game | · EA | $7.99 | 2,915 96% | 87k | $699k (exactly $698,726) | The Sledding Corporation |
 | Sapphire Safari | · EA | $12.99 | 1,653 92% | 50k | $644k (exactly $644,174) | Kinky Fridays |
 | Astronomics | · EA | $19.99 | 706 89% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Numizmatic |
 | Adorable Adventures | $19.99 | 698 93% | 21k | $419k (exactly $418,591) | Wild Sheep Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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