Do I ship it?

GamesCookingCooking + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Cooking game?

Cooking + Puzzle

Of 77 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 92 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 92 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 92 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Cooking + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 77
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $475 → $1.7k → $1.9k → $1.8k → $899 → $898 → $1.1k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Cooking + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 77
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $958 (exactly $958)
Top 25% $5.1k (exactly $5,095)
Top 5% $165k (exactly $165,040)
Developers, 2 yr 77
Released games 197
Announced 92
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 up 20% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Cooking, Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Point & Click, Simulation
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Colorful, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 20,416 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $960, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 92 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Cooking with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorFair54 devs · median $14k · 68 announced
  2. + DogsFair12 devs · median $8.1k · 12 announced
  3. + Turn-Based CombatFair15 devs · median $6.0k · 22 announced
  4. + Point & ClickFair68 devs · median $1.8k · 79 announced
  5. + LogicFair27 devs · median $1.6k · 26 announced
  6. + Score AttackFair28 devs · median $1.4k · 30 announced
  7. + Hidden ObjectFair25 devs · median $1.0k · 20 announced
  8. + Artificial IntelligencePoor odds15 devs · median $73k · 10 announced
  9. + JRPGPoor odds13 devs · median $34k · 25 announced
  10. + LGBTQ+Poor odds16 devs · median $30k · 32 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds12 devs · median $26k · 23 announced
  12. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds19 devs · median $24k · 29 announced

All 95 pairs on the Cooking page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hello Kitty Island Adventure $39.99 9,637 93% 289k $12M (exactly $11,561,509) Sunblink
Creature Kitchen $7.99 9,046 99% 271k $2.2M (exactly $2,168,326) The Rat Zone
Stephen's Sausage Roll older $29.99 1,588 96% 48k $1.4M (exactly $1,428,724) increpare games
Venba older $14.99 2,393 93% 72k $1.1M (exactly $1,076,132) Visai Games
Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe older $19.99 1,624 95% 49k $974k (exactly $973,913) Trinket Studios
inbento older $4.99 2,792 96% 84k $418k (exactly $417,962) Afterburn
Automachef older $14.99 522 75% 16k $235k (exactly $234,743) Rhombico Games
On Your Tail $19.99 292 87% 8.8k $175k (exactly $175,112) Memorable Games
Bento Blocks $14.99 367 97% 11k $165k (exactly $165,040) SOMETIMES LIMITED
Nancy Drew®: Warnings at Waverly Academy older $14.99 335 90% 10k $151k (exactly $150,650) HeR Interactive
Abra-Cooking-Dabra $12.99 250 75% 7.5k $97k (exactly $97,425) Door 407
Little Chef: Cozy Cooking $7.99 308 95% 9.2k $74k (exactly $73,828) Julien Truebiger, Erika Zakse, Danny va… (Julien Truebiger, Erika Zakse, Danny van Duist)
UMAMI $13.99 153 98% 4.6k $64k (exactly $64,214) Mimmox
Snacktorio $7.99 215 90% 6.5k $52k (exactly $51,536) ellraiser
The Supper: New Blood $9.99 120 88% 3.6k $36k (exactly $35,964) White Blanket Games
Skystead Ranch $24.99 28 71% 840 $21k (exactly $20,992) ToastieLabs

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.