Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Creature Collector?

Creature Collector + Puzzle

Of 118 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 182 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×180 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 182 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 182 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 118
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.7k → $2.5k → $4.1k → $3.1k → $2.2k → $1.4k → $1.1k (still earning) → $148 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 118
Bottom 30% $416 (exactly $416)
Median $1.7k (exactly $1,663)
Top 25% $8.7k (exactly $8,738)
Top 5% $113k (exactly $113,159)
Developers, 2 yr 118
Released games 669
Announced 182
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $1.99

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 30% on the market, supply 10% 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
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Creature Collector, Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Hidden Object
Price point
$1.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.49 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 $12.49 or above; the middle game at $1.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 26,326 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $1.7k, 1 in 4 over $8.7k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 165 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 182 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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 Bugsnax 2022 · $6.5M Creature Kitchen 2026 · $2.2M Patch Quest 2023 · $925k Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective 2021 · $684k
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
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
Patch Quest older $14.99 2,058 94% 62k $925k (exactly $925,483) Lychee Game Labs
Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective older $11.99 1,902 95% 57k $684k (exactly $684,149) Darjeeling
A Castle Full of Cats older $3.99 4,073 99% 122k $488k (exactly $487,538) Devcats
Aquarist older $15.99 950 81% 29k $456k (exactly $455,715) FreeMind S.A.
A Tower Full of Cats older $5.99 2,304 99% 69k $414k (exactly $414,029) Devcats
Paquerette Down the Bunburrows older $11.99 1,115 96% 33k $401k (exactly $401,066) Bunstack
A Building Full of Cats older $2.99 4,103 98% 123k $368k (exactly $368,039) Devcats
Europa $14.99 778 85% 23k $350k (exactly $349,867) Helder Pinto, Chozabu (Alex PB), Novadu… (Helder Pinto, Chozabu (Alex PB), Novadust Entertainment)
A Building Full of Cats 2 $6.99 1,145 97% 34k $240k (exactly $240,106) Devcats
A Shelter Full of Cats $4.99 1,152 97% 35k $172k (exactly $172,454) Devcats
A Planet Full of Cats $7.99 581 89% 17k $139k (exactly $139,266) Devcats
Space Accident VR $16.99 231 82% 6.9k $118k (exactly $117,741) VR-WRG
EMUUROM $12.49 302 90% 9.1k $113k (exactly $113,159) borbware
Chicken Hill $2.99 1,134 99% 34k $102k (exactly $101,720) 梗立游戏
Critter Café $9.99 266 72% 8.0k $80k (exactly $79,720) Sumo Digital

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