Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Magic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Magic Creature Collector?

Creature Collector + Magic

Of 70 developers who shipped a Magic 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.. 175 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×4.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $690k, ×1104 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 175 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 175 announced, ×4.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Magic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 70
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.0k → $2.1k → $719 → $18k → $4.8k → $1.6k → $2.8k (still earning) → $360 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Magic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 70
Bottom 30% $600 (exactly $600)
Median $2.8k (exactly $2,844)
Top 25% $26k (exactly $25,633)
Top 5% $693k (exactly $693,359)
Developers, 2 yr 70
Released games 148
Announced 175
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 45% on the market, supply 20% 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.

Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Magic
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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 20,583 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 $2.8k, 1 in 4 over $25k, 1 in 20 over $690k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 175 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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

Little Witch in the Woods 2025 · $7.0M Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch™ Remastered 2019 · $6.0M Rune Factory 5 2022 · $2.3M Rune Factory 4 Special 2021 · $1.9M DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince 2024 · $1.4M
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
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch™ Remastered older $49.99 4,023 83% 121k $6.0M (exactly $6,033,293) LEVEL5 Inc., QLOC
Rune Factory 5 older $39.99 1,940 76% 58k $2.3M (exactly $2,327,418) Marvelous Inc.
Rune Factory 4 Special older $29.99 2,070 88% 62k $1.9M (exactly $1,862,379) Marvelous Inc.
DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince older $39.99 1,158 71% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,389,253) Square Enix
Witchspire · EA $22.99 1,849 82% 55k $1.3M (exactly $1,275,255) Envar Games
Planet Centauri $14.99 2,102 75% 63k $945k (exactly $945,269) Permadeath
Rune Factory 3 Special older $39.99 734 94% 22k $881k (exactly $880,580) Marvelous Inc.
Ithya: Magic Studies $10.99 2,103 97% 63k $693k (exactly $693,359) BlueTurtle
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle $18.99 950 71% 29k $541k (exactly $541,215) KTMG LLC.
Desktop Raid $8.99 672 76% 20k $181k (exactly $181,238) Lee_Studio
DreamEcho $11.99 369 79% 11k $133k (exactly $132,729) HotWaterStudio
Border Town $14.99 253 77% 7.6k $114k (exactly $113,774) GoHoGames
Loafing Town $6.99 531 85% 16k $111k (exactly $111,351) GoblinZz
Farmagia $49.99 63 46% 1.9k $94k (exactly $94,481) Marvelous Inc.

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