Games › Strategy › Strategy + Cooking
Should I ship a Cooking Strategy game?
Strategy + Cooking
Of 115 developers who shipped a Cooking Strategy 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.. 223 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×4.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $430k, ×696 the market median. Revenue is up 1335% on the market; 223 games are announced against 74 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $31,029) |
| Top 5% | $437k (exactly $437,210) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 115 |
| Released games | 255 |
| Announced | 223 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 1335% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Cooking; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Time Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 17,702 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 9 in 10 of the 54 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 223 games are announced against 74 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Overcooked! 2 2018 · $46M 
Black Desert 2017 · $19M 
PlateUp! 2022 · $11M 
Stranded: Alien Dawn 2023 · $10M 
Overcooked! All You Can Eat 2021 · $6.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Overcooked! 2 | older | $24.99 | 61,956 90% | 1.9M | $46M (exactly $46,448,413) | Ghost Town Games Ltd., Team17 |
| | Black Desert | older | $9.99 | 63,052 75% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,896,684) | Pearl Abyss |
| | PlateUp! | older | $19.99 | 18,500 94% | 555k | $11M (exactly $11,094,450) | It's happening |
| | Stranded: Alien Dawn | older | $34.99 | 9,715 84% | 291k | $10M (exactly $10,197,836) | Haemimont Games |
| | Overcooked! All You Can Eat | older | $39.99 | 5,744 73% | 172k | $6.9M (exactly $6,891,077) | Team17 Digital, Ghost Town Games |
 | Tavern Keeper 🍻 | · EA | $29.99 | 4,563 94% | 137k | $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
 | Moonstone Island | older | $19.99 | 4,063 84% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,436,581) | Studio Supersoft |
 | Papa's Freezeria Deluxe | older | $5.99 | 12,275 99% | 368k | $2.2M (exactly $2,205,818) | Flipline Studios |
 | Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition | older | $14.99 | 3,579 55% | 107k | $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) | Klabater |
 | Cook, Serve, Delicious! | older | $12.99 | 3,713 95% | 111k | $1.4M (exactly $1,446,956) | Vertigo Gaming Inc. |
 | Restaurats | $19.90 | 1,640 89% | 49k | $979k (exactly $979,080) | toR Studio | |
 | The Chef's Shift | $12.99 | 1,948 97% | 58k | $759k (exactly $759,136) | Panitia GameDev | |
 | Omelet You Cook | $14.99 | 1,523 97% | 46k | $685k (exactly $684,893) | Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose | |
 | Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe | $5.99 | 3,450 98% | 104k | $620k (exactly $619,965) | Flipline Studios | |
 | Chef Knight | $5.99 | 2,433 94% | 73k | $437k (exactly $437,210) | Clover Bite | |
 | Cook Serve Forever | $29.99 | 333 69% | 10k | $300k (exactly $299,600) | Vertigo Gaming Inc. | |
 | SkyBrew: Entropic Strategist | $17.99 | 522 75% | 16k | $282k (exactly $281,723) | ATRIC Games | |
 | Inn Tycoon | $11.99 | 727 76% | 22k | $262k (exactly $261,502) | Evil Goose Games | |
 | Kinny and the Cosmic Cauldron | $12.99 | 563 85% | 17k | $219k (exactly $219,401) | Kinnymoms |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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