Do I ship it?

Games › Destruction › Destruction + Underground

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underground Destruction game?

Destruction + Underground

Only 14 developers shipped an Underground Destruction game 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, Last Train Outta' Wormtown, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×4.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $520k, ×832 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 32 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 32 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Underground
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.3k → $898 → $7.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Underground: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $2.6k (exactly $2,637)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,250)
Top 5% $523k (exactly $522,644)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 32
Announced 32
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 95% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Underground
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Destruction
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 3,213 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $2.6k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $520k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 4 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Destruction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Last Train Outta' Wormtown 2025 · $523k You Know The Drill 2026 · $153k DigDigDrill 2024 · $73k ARKOS 2021 · $54k Dynamite Jack 2012 · $38k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Last Train Outta' Wormtown $11.99 1,453 96% 44k $523k (exactly $522,644) Get(Color) Games
You Know The Drill $4.99 1,022 92% 31k $153k (exactly $152,993) ludokai
DigDigDrill $3.99 607 95% 18k $73k (exactly $72,658) Toorai
ARKOS older $9.99 179 78% 5.4k $54k (exactly $53,646) RetroSouls
Dynamite Jack older $9.99 128 89% 3.8k $38k (exactly $38,362) Hassey Enterprises, Inc.
ARKOS 2 $12.99 34 91% 1.0k $13k (exactly $13,250) RetroSouls
Rift Miner $7.99 31 93% 930 $7.4k (exactly $7,431) TIDERAFT
Virvius · EA older $4.99 38 92% 1.1k $5.7k (exactly $5,689) Myke Wills
Fool's End older $4.99 29 93% 870 $4.3k (exactly $4,341) Alan Higgs
Caverns: Lost Sky older $19.99 5 60% 150 $3.0k (exactly $2,998) Tetravoxel Limited
DOWNMOUSE $3.99 25 92% 750 $3.0k (exactly $2,992) WobblyHandStudio
Mineral Madness $7.99 11 90% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) Whacky Mole Studio
Deepcore Mining $3.99 18 83% 540 $2.2k (exactly $2,155) SilverMoon Studios
IRONBORNE $4.99 6 100% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Tres Interactive
Digger Beach $4.99 6 66% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Makatski

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