Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Cooking
Should I ship a Cooking Life Sim?
Life Sim + Cooking
Of 204 developers who shipped a Cooking Life Sim 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.. 388 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.4k, ×20 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2794 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 388 games are announced against 130 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.4k (exactly $9,431) |
| Top 25% | $60k (exactly $59,940) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,065) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 204 |
| Released games | 395 |
| Announced | 388 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 25% on the market, supply 70% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Cooking; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Crafting
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 74,324 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 6 in 10 of the 94 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 388 games are announced against 130 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
Disney Dreamlight Valley 2023 · $26M 
Sun Haven 2023 · $17M 
Fields of Mistria 2026 · $13M 
Hello Kitty Island Adventure 2025 · $12M 
Starsand Island 2026 · $7.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Disney Dreamlight Valley | older | $39.99 | 22,027 92% | 661k | $26M (exactly $26,425,792) | Gameloft |
| | Sun Haven | older | $24.99 | 22,069 79% | 662k | $17M (exactly $16,545,129) | Pixel Sprout Studios |
| | Fields of Mistria | $13.99 | 31,918 96% | 958k | $13M (exactly $13,395,985) | NPC Studio | |
| | Hello Kitty Island Adventure | $39.99 | 9,637 93% | 289k | $12M (exactly $11,561,509) | Sunblink | |
| | Starsand Island | $39.99 | 5,898 76% | 177k | $7.1M (exactly $7,075,831) | Seed Sparkle Lab | |
 | STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar | $49.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $4.7M (exactly $4,709,058) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator | $17.99 | 7,019 83% | 211k | $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) | Biotech Gameworks | |
 | Farm Together 2 | $25.99 | 4,456 93% | 134k | $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) | Milkstone Studios | |
 | Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings™ Game | $34.99 | 3,237 81% | 97k | $3.4M (exactly $3,397,879) | Wētā Workshop | |
 | Moonstone Island | older | $19.99 | 4,063 84% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,436,581) | Studio Supersoft |
 | Wanderstop | $24.99 | 2,938 92% | 88k | $2.2M (exactly $2,202,619) | Ivy Road | |
 | Winter Burrow | $19.99 | 2,838 89% | 85k | $1.7M (exactly $1,701,949) | Pine Creek Games | |
 | Grimshire | · EA | $14.99 | 3,243 97% | 97k | $1.5M (exactly $1,458,377) | Acute Owl Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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