Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Cooking
Should I ship a Cooking Sandbox?
Sandbox + Cooking
Of 115 developers who shipped a Cooking Sandbox 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.. 241 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $12k, ×19 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.4M, ×5532 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 241 games are announced against 73 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.7k (exactly $2,698) |
|---|---|
| Median | $12k (exactly $11,988) |
| Top 25% | $94k (exactly $94,153) |
| Top 5% | $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 115 |
| Released games | 238 |
| Announced | 241 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Cooking; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Life Sim, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $21.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $21.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 73,369 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 5 in 10 of the 51 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 241 games are announced against 73 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Disney Dreamlight Valley 2023 · $26M 
Black Desert 2017 · $19M 
Fields of Mistria 2026 · $13M 
Cooking Simulator 2019 · $11M 
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 |
| | Black Desert | older | $9.99 | 63,052 75% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,896,684) | Pearl Abyss |
| | Fields of Mistria | $13.99 | 31,918 96% | 958k | $13M (exactly $13,395,985) | NPC Studio | |
| | Cooking Simulator | older | $19.99 | 17,837 84% | 535k | $11M (exactly $10,696,849) | Big Cheese Studio |
| | 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. | |
 | Tavern Keeper 🍻 | · EA | $29.99 | 4,563 94% | 137k | $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
 | Ale & Tale Tavern | older | $14.99 | 8,692 88% | 261k | $3.9M (exactly $3,908,792) | Scienart Games |
 | 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 | |
 | Creature Kitchen | $7.99 | 9,046 99% | 271k | $2.2M (exactly $2,168,326) | The Rat Zone | |
 | Grimshire | · EA | $14.99 | 3,243 97% | 97k | $1.5M (exactly $1,458,377) | Acute Owl Studio |
 | Wrap House Simulator🌯 | $14.99 | 2,951 87% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,065) | Broken Lyre Entertainment, Wendigo Games | |
 | Card Survival: Fantasy Forest | · EA | $21.99 | 1,135 76% | 34k | $749k (exactly $748,760) | WinterSpring Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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