Do I ship it?

Games › Crafting › Crafting + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Score Attack game?

Crafting + Score Attack

Of 26 developers who shipped a Crafting Score Attack 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.. 31 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $800, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×193 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 31 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 31 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Crafting + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $2.1k → $8.1k → $150 → $599 (still earning) → $3.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Crafting + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $804 (exactly $804)
Top 25% $3.3k (exactly $3,293)
Top 5% $121k (exactly $121,079)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 56
Announced 31
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 60% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Crafting
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Score Attack
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Crafting, Score Attack; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Strategy, Action RPG
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cartoony
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 26,407 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $800, 1 in 4 over $3.2k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds62 devs · median $15k · 65 announced
  2. + SportsFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair16 devs · median $17k · 24 announced
  4. + IdlerFair235 devs · median $1.7k · 338 announced
  5. + SolitaireFair12 devs · median $809 · 20 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds17 devs · median $174k · 39 announced
  7. + MMORPGPoor odds25 devs · median $111k · 155 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $90k · 50 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds160 devs · median $77k · 369 announced
  10. + WesternPoor odds13 devs · median $69k · 23 announced
  11. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds20 devs · median $44k · 25 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds17 devs · median $39k · 30 announced

All 200 pairs on the Crafting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Soulstone Survivors 2025 · $12M Goblin Sushi 2026 · EA · $121k Bartender VR Simulator 2018 · $101k LAPIDARY: Jewel Craft Simulator 2024 · $31k Magic Forge Tycoon 2026 · $29k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
Goblin Sushi · EA $9.99 404 89% 12k $121k (exactly $121,079) Old Cake Factory
Bartender VR Simulator older $19.99 168 56% 5.0k $101k (exactly $100,750) VR Factory Games Sp. z o.o.
LAPIDARY: Jewel Craft Simulator older $7.99 130 82% 3.9k $31k (exactly $31,161) THINK & FEEL
Magic Forge Tycoon $11.99 82 69% 2.5k $29k (exactly $29,495) Clever Trickster Studio, Clever Trickst… (Clever Trickster Studio, Clever Trickster Productions)
Sun Down Survivors older $4.99 185 50% 5.6k $28k (exactly $27,694) Pixel Sprout Studios
RPGolf Legends older $29.99 25 76% 750 $22k (exactly $22,492) ArticNet
Miner Gun Builder older $7.99 90 83% 2.7k $22k (exactly $21,573) GermapurApps
Kitty Survivors: Rogues of Catmere older $2.99 106 83% 3.2k $9.5k (exactly $9,508) Little Horror Studios
Phantom Tower · EA $12.99 24 75% 720 $9.4k (exactly $9,353) Horien Studio
Temporal Purge: Z $4.99 56 85% 1.7k $8.4k (exactly $8,383) Exec Games
Assemblands $9.99 27 66% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) Tafusoft
Laballatory $4.99 22 90% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) Rollmop Games Studio
Mining Miner · EA $4.99 20 95% 600 $3.0k (exactly $2,994) Skollheim, MTSU
Combine 2 Pumpkins $4.99 19 100% 570 $2.8k (exactly $2,844) 2Z
Dino-Ducks Mayhem · EA $14.88 4 100% 120 $1.8k (exactly $1,786) Duckosaurus Games

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