Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Romance

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Romance Creature Collector?

Creature Collector + Romance

Only 16 developers shipped a Romance Creature Collector in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, JASON, Coming of Age, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $15k, ×24 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×869 the market median. Revenue is up 390% on the market; 27 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 24.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 390% on the market, 27 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Romance
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $19k → $5.2k → $2.4k → $344k → $53k (still earning) → $2.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Romance: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $1.5k (exactly $1,498)
Median $15k (exactly $15,285)
Top 25% $53k (exactly $52,876)
Top 5% $545k (exactly $545,486)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 45
Announced 27
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 390% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Romance
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 3,357 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.5k, median $15k, 1 in 4 over $52k, 1 in 20 over $540k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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

Rune Factory 5 2022 · $2.3M Rune Factory 4 Special 2021 · $1.9M Rune Factory 3 Special 2023 · $881k JASON, Coming of Age 2025 · $545k Ova Magica 2026 · $523k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
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.
Rune Factory 3 Special older $39.99 734 94% 22k $881k (exactly $880,580) Marvelous Inc.
JASON, Coming of Age $14.99 1,213 83% 36k $545k (exactly $545,486) Coeur de cochon
Ova Magica $29.99 581 91% 17k $523k (exactly $522,726) ClaudiaTheDev, Skinny Frog
Island Notes $12.99 884 82% 27k $344k (exactly $344,495) KangBaoGame
Pawsome Resort · EA $11.99 147 83% 4.4k $53k (exactly $52,876) Pixel Puffs
Nimbit Frontier · EA $13.99 113 97% 3.4k $47k (exactly $47,426) Megasploot
Chair F*cking Simulator older $1.99 774 95% 23k $46k (exactly $46,208) SoSorrySoft
Magical Waifus Academy older $9.99 121 85% 3.6k $36k (exactly $36,264) Wataponno
Desktop Kitten Girl $3.99 277 86% 8.3k $33k (exactly $33,157) KDream
Stuff It! $9.99 54 87% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) BONNISOFT
Hentai Dates $9.99 51 66% 1.5k $15k (exactly $15,285) Fantasy Games
Erogoddess: Mirage $5.99 33 96% 990 $5.9k (exactly $5,930) Moobly
Artisan Story · EA $20.00 4 75% 120 $2.4k (exactly $2,400) Adventroupe Studio

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