Games › Cooking › Cooking + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Cooking game?
Cooking + Psychological Horror
Of 40 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.1k, ×15 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.2M, ×4637 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 66 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,455) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.1k (exactly $7,062) |
| Top 25% | $36k (exactly $35,964) |
| Top 5% | $2.2M (exactly $2,202,619) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 40 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 66 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 90% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Cooking; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 20,187 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 4 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Cooking with a different setting or mood, 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
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty 2024 · $15M 
Fast Food Simulator 2024 · EA · $3.9M 
Papa's Freezeria Deluxe 2023 · $2.2M 
Wanderstop 2025 · $2.2M 
REKA 2024 · EA · $1.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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) |
| | Fast Food Simulator | · EA | $14.99 | 8,653 86% | 260k | $3.9M (exactly $3,891,254) | No Ceiling Games |
| | Papa's Freezeria Deluxe | older | $5.99 | 12,275 99% | 368k | $2.2M (exactly $2,205,818) | Flipline Studios |
| | Wanderstop | $24.99 | 2,938 92% | 88k | $2.2M (exactly $2,202,619) | Ivy Road | |
| | REKA | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,989 82% | 90k | $1.8M (exactly $1,792,503) | Emberstorm Entertainment |
 | Stephen's Sausage Roll | older | $29.99 | 1,588 96% | 48k | $1.4M (exactly $1,428,724) | increpare games |
 | Cooking Simulator VR | older | $19.99 | 1,589 74% | 48k | $953k (exactly $952,923) | Big Cheese Studio |
 | Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe | $5.99 | 3,450 98% | 104k | $620k (exactly $619,965) | Flipline Studios | |
 | Cooking Companions | older | $14.99 | 1,081 93% | 32k | $486k (exactly $486,126) | Deer Dream Studios |
 | Kiosk | $3.99 | 2,547 88% | 76k | $305k (exactly $304,876) | Vivi | |
 | Happy's Humble Burger Cult | $9.99 | 477 86% | 14k | $143k (exactly $142,957) | Scythe Dev Team | |
 | Tostchu | $7.99 | 594 84% | 18k | $142k (exactly $142,382) | Ravenscape Collective | |
 | Wasteland Bites | $9.99 | 440 93% | 13k | $132k (exactly $131,868) | CosmicDev | |
 | [Bober Bros] The Hole | $2.99 | 779 85% | 23k | $70k (exactly $69,876) | BOBER BROS | |
 | Don't Let It Starve | $7.99 | 189 95% | 5.7k | $45k (exactly $45,303) | Eduardo Scarpato | |
 | The Supper: New Blood | $9.99 | 120 88% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $35,964) | White Blanket Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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