Games › Cooking › Cooking + Dating Sim
Should I ship a Dating Sim Cooking game?
Cooking + Dating Sim
Of 36 developers who shipped a Dating Sim Cooking 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.. 60 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $10k, ×22 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $4.7M, ×9914 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 60 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
|---|---|
| Median | $10k (exactly $10,492) |
| Top 25% | $90k (exactly $90,390) |
| Top 5% | $4.7M (exactly $4,709,058) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 82 |
| Announced | 60 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 70% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Cooking
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Dating Sim
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Cooking, Dating Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Life Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 42,192 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.3k. 5 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Cooking with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + DogsFair
- + Turn-Based CombatFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Artificial IntelligencePoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
Sun Haven 2023 · $17M 
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty 2024 · $15M 
Fields of Mistria 2026 · $13M 
STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar 2025 · $4.7M 
Moonstone Island 2023 · $2.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sun Haven | older | $24.99 | 22,069 79% | 662k | $17M (exactly $16,545,129) | Pixel Sprout Studios |
| | The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty | older | $9.99 | 49,765 94% | 1.5M | $15M (exactly $14,914,570) | 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame) |
| | Fields of Mistria | $13.99 | 31,918 96% | 958k | $13M (exactly $13,395,985) | NPC Studio | |
| | STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar | $49.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $4.7M (exactly $4,709,058) | Marvelous Inc. | |
| | Moonstone Island | older | $19.99 | 4,063 84% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,436,581) | Studio Supersoft |
 | Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe | $5.99 | 3,450 98% | 104k | $620k (exactly $619,965) | Flipline Studios | |
 | Witchy Life Story | older | $19.99 | 965 80% | 29k | $579k (exactly $578,710) | Sundew Studios |
 | To Pixelia | $14.99 | 1,194 73% | 36k | $537k (exactly $536,942) | Pixeduo Studios | |
 | Cooking Companions | older | $14.99 | 1,081 93% | 32k | $486k (exactly $486,126) | Deer Dream Studios |
 | Slow living with Princess | older | $19.99 | 580 87% | 17k | $348k (exactly $347,826) | KADOKAWA, TSUKURITE. |
 | Maid Cafe on Electric Street | $18.99 | 595 82% | 18k | $339k (exactly $338,972) | Adventurer's Tavern | |
 | MeteoriteFall | $12.99 | 651 78% | 20k | $254k (exactly $253,695) | ST studio | |
 | Kurage Life | $10.99 | 588 90% | 18k | $194k (exactly $193,864) | TAIL-AKI | |
 | High Times | $19.99 | 163 90% | 4.9k | $98k (exactly $97,751) | Yangyang Mobile | |
 | Anime City | · EA | $14.99 | 201 72% | 6.0k | $90k (exactly $90,390) | Shoujo City Developer |
 | One Iced Latte With Your Breast Milk, Please! | $9.99 | 292 83% | 8.8k | $88k (exactly $87,512) | azaly, nemuaki |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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