Games › Crafting › Crafting + Dating Sim
Should I ship a Crafting Dating Sim?
Crafting + Dating Sim
Of 34 developers who shipped a Crafting Dating Sim 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.. 98 more are announced, ×6.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $19k, ×30 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $5.3M, ×8445 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 98 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.8k (exactly $4,799) |
|---|---|
| Median | $19k (exactly $18,936) |
| Top 25% | $89k (exactly $88,689) |
| Top 5% | $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 102 |
| Announced | 98 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Crafting
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Dating Sim
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Crafting, Dating Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Building, Farming Sim
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Cozy, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 44,465 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.8k. 5 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 98 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
Stardew Valley 2016 · $402M 
My Time at Sandrock 2023 · $29M 
Coral Island 2023 · $20M 
Sun Haven 2023 · $17M 
Fields of Mistria 2026 · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stardew Valley | older | $14.99 | 894,201 98% | 27M | $402M (exactly $402,122,190) | ConcernedApe |
| | My Time at Sandrock | older | $39.99 | 24,110 88% | 723k | $29M (exactly $28,924,767) | Pathea Games |
| | Coral Island | older | $29.99 | 21,828 89% | 655k | $20M (exactly $19,638,652) | Stairway Games |
| | Sun Haven | older | $24.99 | 22,069 79% | 662k | $17M (exactly $16,545,129) | Pixel Sprout Studios |
| | Fields of Mistria | $13.99 | 31,918 96% | 958k | $13M (exactly $13,395,985) | NPC Studio | |
 | Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma | $59.99 | 2,947 88% | 88k | $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Potionomics | older | $24.99 | 6,973 90% | 209k | $5.2M (exactly $5,227,658) | Voracious Games |
 | STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar | $49.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $4.7M (exactly $4,709,058) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Clanfolk | · EA older | $29.99 | 3,779 91% | 113k | $3.4M (exactly $3,399,966) | MinMax Games Ltd. |
 | Roots of Pacha | older | $24.99 | 3,779 93% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Soda Den |
 | Tales of Seikyu | $24.99 | 2,179 83% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,633,596) | ACE Entertainment | |
 | Return from Core | $16.99 | 1,620 75% | 49k | $826k (exactly $825,714) | 顽核社 FuncoreClub | |
 | Sensei! I Like You So Much! | $16.99 | 1,304 86% | 39k | $665k (exactly $664,649) | LaoO Studio (Shanghai Ou Ou Xi Network… (LaoO Studio (Shanghai Ou Ou Xi Network Technology Co. LTD）) | |
 | One Lonely Outpost | $19.99 | 540 58% | 16k | $324k (exactly $323,838) | indie.io | |
 | Tamer: King of Dinosaurs | · EA | $24.99 | 347 86% | 10k | $260k (exactly $260,146) | Ride the Lion Studios |
 | Anime City | · EA | $14.99 | 201 72% | 6.0k | $90k (exactly $90,390) | Shoujo City Developer |
 | Syn-Chorus 01: The New Life | · EA | $10.99 | 269 83% | 8.1k | $89k (exactly $88,689) | PrisMaze棱镜迷阵 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.