Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Creature Collector?

Creature Collector + Horror

Of 35 developers who shipped a Horror Creature Collector 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.. 83 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3290 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 83 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 83 announced, ×5.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 35
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $777 → $7.7k → $23k → $1.8k → $479 → $2.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 35
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $896 (exactly $896)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $12,136)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,065,974)
Developers, 2 yr 35
Released games 99
Announced 83
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 10% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Horror
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Creature Collector; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 97% positive over 21,253 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $900, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $2.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Creature Collector with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Perma DeathFair30 devs · median $5.3k · 33 announced
  2. + Bullet HellFair24 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  3. + CapitalismFair38 devs · median $3.2k · 38 announced
  4. + LootFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  5. + IdlerFair248 devs · median $2.1k · 260 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair177 devs · median $1.9k · 191 announced
  7. + Action RoguelikeFair39 devs · median $1.8k · 54 announced
  8. + SpaceFair30 devs · median $1.5k · 39 announced
  9. + ZombiesFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 10 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair73 devs · median $629 · 85 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds31 devs · median $28k · 82 announced
  12. + Dating SimPoor odds14 devs · median $23k · 43 announced

All 133 pairs on the Creature Collector page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Bugsnax 2022 · $6.5M Creature Kitchen 2026 · $2.2M Berry Bury Berry 2026 · $2.1M Decktamer 2025 · $992k A Castle Full of Cats 2022 · $488k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Bugsnax older $24.99 8,673 97% 260k $6.5M (exactly $6,502,148) Young Horses
Creature Kitchen $7.99 9,046 99% 271k $2.2M (exactly $2,168,326) The Rat Zone
Berry Bury Berry $7.99 8,619 98% 259k $2.1M (exactly $2,065,974) Get(Color) Games
Decktamer $15.99 2,069 86% 62k $992k (exactly $992,499) Horizon Edge
A Castle Full of Cats older $3.99 4,073 99% 122k $488k (exactly $487,538) Devcats
My Lovely Wife older $14.99 685 74% 21k $308k (exactly $308,044) GameChanger Studio, Toge Productions
Penko Park older $13.99 602 98% 18k $253k (exactly $252,659) Ghostbutter
Psalm 5:9-13 older $3.99 1,852 83% 56k $222k (exactly $221,684) N4bA, Notex, a1esska
Creature Lab older $19.99 343 51% 10k $206k (exactly $205,697) Image Power S.A.
Psalm 2 $7.99 631 88% 19k $151k (exactly $151,251) Notex, a1esska, N4bA
Fishing The Abyss $6.99 421 95% 13k $88k (exactly $88,284) umaaaaaa studio
Ghostbane · EA $8.99 155 67% 4.7k $42k (exactly $41,804) Pi Bit
Security: The Horrible Nights $4.99 163 88% 4.9k $24k (exactly $24,401) Professional Villains
Blue Hunter $14.99 28 85% 840 $13k (exactly $12,592) NourSaiFR
DOLLMAKER $8.99 45 97% 1.4k $12k (exactly $12,136) STH
Hidden Cats in Spooky Village $4.99 76 100% 2.3k $11k (exactly $11,377) Nukearts Studio

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