Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Platformer Creature Collector?

Creature Collector + Platformer

Of 30 developers who shipped a Platformer 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.. 37 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×557 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 37 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 50% on the market, 37 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.0k → $838 → $5.2k → $3.6k → $5.4k → $748 → $628 (still earning) → $9.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $360 (exactly $360)
Median $838 (exactly $838)
Top 25% $8.2k (exactly $8,242)
Top 5% $350k (exactly $349,867)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 77
Announced 37
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 50% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Platformer
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
Creature Collector, Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 3,551 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $840, 1 in 4 over $8.2k, 1 in 20 over $340k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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

Monster Sanctuary 2020 · $6.2M Planet Centauri 2024 · $945k Europa 2024 · $350k Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy 2017 · $282k EMUUROM 2026 · $113k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Monster Sanctuary older $19.99 10,416 91% 312k $6.2M (exactly $6,246,475) moi rai games
Planet Centauri $14.99 2,102 75% 63k $945k (exactly $945,269) Permadeath
Europa $14.99 778 85% 23k $350k (exactly $349,867) Helder Pinto, Chozabu (Alex PB), Novadu… (Helder Pinto, Chozabu (Alex PB), Novadust Entertainment)
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy older $14.99 626 94% 19k $282k (exactly $281,512) Eurocom, THQ Nordic
EMUUROM $12.49 302 90% 9.1k $113k (exactly $113,159) borbware
Portal Fantasy $14.99 210 62% 6.3k $94k (exactly $94,437) Portal Fantasy
Duck Life 9: The Flock older $9.99 190 83% 5.7k $57k (exactly $56,943) Wix Games
Duck Life 4 older $4.99 261 86% 7.8k $39k (exactly $39,072) Wix Games
OUTCLAW $24.99 44 93% 1.3k $33k (exactly $32,987) Moss Monkey
CODE: PANDORA older $8.99 58 68% 1.7k $16k (exactly $15,643) Towndarktales
Fire Hero - Pixel Rescue $9.99 37 97% 1.1k $11k (exactly $11,089) Ravenlore Studio
Tame Me Hard! $10.99 28 57% 840 $9.2k (exactly $9,232) IniBugyo
The PARADOGX Incident $10.99 25 92% 750 $8.2k (exactly $8,242) Artibex
Bearly Escape $19.99 13 92% 390 $7.8k (exactly $7,796) Time Traveller
Virballs $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Bolder Games, Chimera Studios

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