Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Life Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Life Sim Creature Collector?

Creature Collector + Life Sim

Of 121 developers who shipped a Life Sim 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.. 212 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.2k, ×5.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $490k, ×780 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 212 games are announced against 75 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 212 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Life Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 121
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.4k → $407k → $6.1k → $4.6k → $8.4k → $3.2k → $2.7k (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Life Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 121
Bottom 30% $600 (exactly $600)
Median $3.2k (exactly $3,236)
Top 25% $45k (exactly $45,209)
Top 5% $490k (exactly $490,042)
Developers, 2 yr 121
Released games 218
Announced 212
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 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Life Sim
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, Life Sim; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Management
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.90 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.90 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 24,615 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $3.2k, 1 in 4 over $45k, 1 in 20 over $490k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 212 games are announced against 75 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Creature Collector with a different second tag, 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

Little Witch in the Woods 2025 · $7.0M Spirit City: Lofi Sessions 2024 · $5.5M Moonstone Island 2023 · $2.4M Paleo Pines 2023 · $1.9M Bloomtown: A Different Story 2024 · $1.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Little Witch in the Woods $19.99 11,691 89% 351k $7.0M (exactly $7,011,093) SUNNY SIDE UP
Spirit City: Lofi Sessions older $11.99 15,211 97% 456k $5.5M (exactly $5,471,397) Mooncube Games
Moonstone Island older $19.99 4,063 84% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,436,581) Studio Supersoft
Paleo Pines older $29.99 2,099 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,888,470) Italic Pig
Bloomtown: A Different Story $24.99 1,428 85% 43k $1.1M (exactly $1,070,572) Lazy Bear Games, Different Sense Games
Horsey Game $9.99 2,911 97% 87k $872k (exactly $872,427) Captain Games
Ithya: Magic Studies $10.99 2,103 97% 63k $693k (exactly $693,359) BlueTurtle
Bobo Bay $24.99 770 95% 23k $577k (exactly $577,269) NewFutureKids
Ova Magica $29.99 581 91% 17k $523k (exactly $522,726) ClaudiaTheDev, Skinny Frog
Moonglow Bay older $24.99 679 66% 20k $509k (exactly $509,046) Bunnyhug
Maltese's Fluffy Onsen $5.99 2,727 94% 82k $490k (exactly $490,042) Sinkhole Studio, Moonlab Studio
On-Together: Virtual Co-Working $9.99 1,314 93% 39k $394k (exactly $393,806) GigaPuff
Ranger’s Path: National Park Simulator · EA $19.99 446 76% 13k $267k (exactly $267,466) To-Go Games
Monster Care Simulator $12.99 644 91% 19k $251k (exactly $250,967) Banana Tiger Studio

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