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Should I ship a Trading Cooking game?
Trading + Cooking
Of 33 developers who shipped a Trading 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.. 52 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $12k, ×25 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×528 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 52 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.7k (exactly $1,704) |
|---|---|
| Median | $12k (exactly $11,988) |
| Top 25% | $54k (exactly $53,946) |
| Top 5% | $251k (exactly $250,960) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 52 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 50% on the market, supply 270% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Trading, Cooking; all of the top 25% also carry Economy, Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Relaxing, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,872 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 5 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Trading with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MiningFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + FlightPoor odds
- + SportsPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + DrivingPoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
Comparable games
Sailwind 2021 · EA · $1.4M 
Winkeltje: The Little Shop 2022 · $725k 
Parisian Bistro Simulator 2025 · EA · $257k 
Arctic Motel Simulator 2025 · $251k 
Prison Boss VR 2017 · $248k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sailwind | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,312 89% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,386,506) | Raw Lion Workshop |
| | Winkeltje: The Little Shop | older | $14.99 | 1,612 88% | 48k | $725k (exactly $724,916) | Sassybot |
| | Parisian Bistro Simulator | · EA | $19.99 | 429 93% | 13k | $257k (exactly $257,271) | Quark Studios |
| | Arctic Motel Simulator | $17.99 | 465 88% | 14k | $251k (exactly $250,960) | One Slice of Pizza Games | |
| | Prison Boss VR | older | $19.99 | 414 87% | 12k | $248k (exactly $248,276) | TREBUCHET |
 | Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) | · EA older | $23.99 | 267 72% | 8.0k | $192k (exactly $192,160) | Happy Daram Inc. |
 | Dog Brew | older | $3.50 | 1,522 97% | 46k | $160k (exactly $159,810) | Yuliy Oneshko, S-Grade |
 | I Know a Guy: Shady Life Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 398 90% | 12k | $155k (exactly $155,101) | Bunch'o'Nerds |
 | Creator Chronicles | $11.99 | 424 64% | 13k | $153k (exactly $152,513) | Origin Studio | |
 | Cafe Business Manager | · EA | $14.99 | 330 86% | 9.9k | $148k (exactly $148,401) | Caos Interactive |
 | Crime Shop Simulator: A Prison Boss Game | $19.99 | 157 85% | 4.7k | $94k (exactly $94,153) | TREBUCHET | |
 | Tropical Resort Simulator | $13.99 | 168 83% | 5.0k | $71k (exactly $70,510) | Beardroid Games | |
 | My Little Cafe Nightmare | $8.99 | 210 90% | 6.3k | $57k (exactly $56,637) | SethMadDev | |
 | Ice Cream Simulator | $9.99 | 180 76% | 5.4k | $54k (exactly $53,946) | AM Playhouse | |
 | Alchemist Shop Simulator | $11.99 | 111 75% | 3.3k | $40k (exactly $39,927) | Kool2Play |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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