Games › Collectathon › Collectathon + Science
Should I ship a Science Collectathon game?
Collectathon + Science
Of 21 developers who shipped a Science 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.. 15 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.6k, ×9.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×501 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 15 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.6k (exactly $4,641) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,180) |
| Top 5% | $238k (exactly $238,022) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 39 |
| Announced | 15 |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 220% more 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
- Science
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Collectathon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Crafting, Creature Collector
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Cute, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 5,414 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Star Birds 2025 · EA · $1.8M 
Mudborne: Frog Management Sim 2025 · $238k 
Monster Lab Simulator 2026 · EA · $197k 
Bugaboo Pocket 2025 · $180k 
HyperRogue 2015 · $121k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Star Birds | · EA | $19.99 | 2,990 92% | 90k | $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) | Toukana Interactive |
| | Mudborne: Frog Management Sim | $7.99 | 993 96% | 30k | $238k (exactly $238,022) | ellraiser, TNgineers | |
| | Monster Lab Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 505 70% | 15k | $197k (exactly $196,798) | Round 3 Studios |
| | Bugaboo Pocket | $19.99 | 300 86% | 9.0k | $180k (exactly $179,910) | Elytra Games | |
| | HyperRogue | older | $9.99 | 404 97% | 12k | $121k (exactly $121,079) | Zeno Rogue |
 | Bug & Seek | older | $14.99 | 203 90% | 6.1k | $91k (exactly $91,289) | So Peculiar |
 | My Little Spider | $4.99 | 389 94% | 12k | $58k (exactly $58,233) | 9FingerGames, Fatal Fawn Games | |
 | Fish Lab | $6.99 | 101 77% | 3.0k | $21k (exactly $21,180) | stonecodes | |
 | Paleo Dive | $19.99 | 33 84% | 990 | $20k (exactly $19,790) | Astra Render | |
 | RigidGems Museum | $24.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $19k (exactly $18,742) | FerioWorks | |
 | Super reaKtor | $4.99 | 55 100% | 1.7k | $8.2k (exactly $8,234) | SuperSAZ Studio | |
 | MINERALS: Deep Core Mining | $6.99 | 23 78% | 690 | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) | THINK & FEEL |
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.