Do I ship it?

GamesResource ManagementResource Management + Cooking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cooking Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Cooking

Of 136 developers who shipped a Cooking Resource Management 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.. 315 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $9.6k, ×20 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $430k, ×920 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 315 games are announced against 93 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 20.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 315 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Cooking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 136
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $11k → $1.9k → $7.5k → $17k → $17k → $7.4k (still earning) → $2.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Cooking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 136
Bottom 30% $1.9k (exactly $1,946)
Median $9.6k (exactly $9,590)
Top 25% $50k (exactly $49,917)
Top 5% $437k (exactly $437,210)
Developers, 2 yr 136
Released games 257
Announced 315
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 10% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Cooking
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Resource Management, Cooking; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Life Sim
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 19,988 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.0k, median $9.6k, 1 in 4 over $49k, 1 in 20 over $430k.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 6 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 315 games are announced against 93 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair630 devs · median $1.8k · 1,025 announced
  9. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  11. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  12. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cooking Simulator older $19.99 17,837 84% 535k $11M (exactly $10,696,849) Big Cheese Studio
Stranded: Alien Dawn older $34.99 9,715 84% 291k $10M (exactly $10,197,836) Haemimont Games
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator older $29.99 2,222 83% 67k $2.0M (exactly $1,999,133) Cyanide Studio
Good Pizza, Great Pizza - Cooking Simulator Game older $9.99 6,261 87% 188k $1.9M (exactly $1,876,422) TapBlaze
Tavern Manager Simulator 🍻 older $14.99 4,018 91% 121k $1.8M (exactly $1,806,895) One More Time
Winter Burrow $19.99 2,838 89% 85k $1.7M (exactly $1,701,949) Pine Creek Games
Kaiju Princess 2 $17.99 3,107 96% 93k $1.7M (exactly $1,676,848) PantyParrot
Chef RPG · EA older $19.99 2,593 87% 78k $1.6M (exactly $1,555,022) World 2 Studio
Grimshire · EA $14.99 3,243 97% 97k $1.5M (exactly $1,458,377) Acute Owl Studio
Ravenous Devils older $4.99 9,477 92% 284k $1.4M (exactly $1,418,707) Bad Vices Games
Wrap House Simulator🌯 $14.99 2,951 87% 89k $1.3M (exactly $1,327,065) Broken Lyre Entertainment, Wendigo Games
Restaurats $19.90 1,640 89% 49k $979k (exactly $979,080) toR Studio
Scale the Depths $9.99 1,881 88% 56k $564k (exactly $563,736) Glass Gecko Games
Chef Knight $5.99 2,433 94% 73k $437k (exactly $437,210) Clover Bite
Sunset Motel $18.99 728 77% 22k $415k (exactly $414,742) Efkey Studios
Farm to Table · EA $14.99 645 91% 19k $290k (exactly $290,056) indieGiant
SkyBrew: Entropic Strategist $17.99 522 75% 16k $282k (exactly $281,723) ATRIC Games

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