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Should I ship a Collectathon Word Game?
Collectathon + Word Game
Only 18 developers shipped a Collectathon Word Game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Anomalous Coffee Machine 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 990% on the market; 16 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,485) |
| Top 5% | $158k (exactly $157,904) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 990% on the market, supply 25% 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
- Word Game
- effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Collectathon, Word Game; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Idler
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 1,210 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Influent Language Learning Game 2014 · $584k 
Logiart Grimoire 2024 · $201k 
Anomalous Coffee Machine 2 2025 · $158k 
Ghostwriter Workshop 2025 · $45k 
Lower? Higher! 2024 · $44k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Influent Language Learning Game | older | $19.99 | 973 73% | 29k | $584k (exactly $583,508) | Rob Howland |
| | Logiart Grimoire | older | $19.99 | 336 94% | 10k | $201k (exactly $201,499) | Jupiter Corporation |
| | Anomalous Coffee Machine 2 | $6.99 | 753 81% | 23k | $158k (exactly $157,904) | HoruBrain Interactive | |
| | Ghostwriter Workshop | $10.99 | 137 94% | 4.1k | $45k (exactly $45,169) | 秘密結社マテンロウ計画, Studio Dragonet | |
| | Lower? Higher! | $9.99 | 146 67% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $43,756) | Unplugged Studio | |
 | 神魔山海经 Gods Monster | $11.99 | 57 59% | 1.7k | $21k (exactly $20,503) | 红尘背包客 | |
 | HoloType: Treasure Zombie Island | $8.99 | 50 88% | 1.5k | $13k (exactly $13,485) | BeXide Inc. | |
 | Plan B from Outer Space: A Bavarian Odyssey | older | $12.49 | 31 90% | 930 | $12k (exactly $11,616) | RobotPumpkin Games |
 | Idle Magic Legend | older | $5.99 | 60 53% | 1.8k | $11k (exactly $10,782) | StarMatrix Labs |
 | Author Sim | $8.99 | 27 85% | 810 | $7.3k (exactly $7,282) | EssyTheSlug | |
 | 云玩家:口口 | $3.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $2.4k (exactly $2,394) | 猫不在 / Cat404 | |
 | 挂到1000级-Idle to level 1000 | $3.99 | 13 69% | 390 | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) | MagicJellyGames | |
 | Automatic Language Learning | · EA | $19.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Vlad Buculei |
 | SUIKAWA LEAD | $7.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | くそいサイト |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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