Games › Driving › Driving + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Driving game?
Driving + Puzzle
Of 35 developers who shipped a Puzzle Driving game 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2193 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,343) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,377,200) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 125 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Driving, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Transportation, Building
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Stylized, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 8,596 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Driving with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MusicFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + LogicFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Teardown | older | $29.99 | 126,563 95% | 3.8M | $114M (exactly $113,868,731) | Tuxedo Labs |
| | Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 | older | $24.99 | 36,950 95% | 1.1M | $28M (exactly $27,701,415) | Red Dot Games |
| | FAR: Lone Sails | older | $14.99 | 24,474 95% | 734k | $11M (exactly $11,005,958) | Okomotive |
| | Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 | older | $19.99 | 12,078 92% | 362k | $7.2M (exactly $7,243,177) | Red Dot Games |
| | Cheap Car Repair | $19.69 | 3,603 91% | 108k | $2.1M (exactly $2,128,292) | Little Dog Games | |
| | MOLE | $12.99 | 3,534 97% | 106k | $1.4M (exactly $1,377,200) | Off Black Creations | |
| | Moving Out 2 | older | $42.99 | 456 73% | 14k | $588k (exactly $588,103) | SMG Studio, Devm Games |
| | Lost | older | $2.50 | 7,423 80% | 223k | $557k (exactly $556,725) | DSGame |
| | WheelMates | $19.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $297k (exactly $297,451) | Firevolt | |
| | Disassembly 3D | older | $29.99 | 309 81% | 9.3k | $278k (exactly $278,007) | Khor Chin Heong |
| | GRIDROAD | $9.99 | 385 82% | 12k | $115k (exactly $115,384) | RAJACORP | |
| | Train Valley Origins | $11.95 | 266 75% | 8.0k | $95k (exactly $95,361) | Flazm | |
| | Robot Detour | $5.99 | 174 100% | 5.2k | $31k (exactly $31,268) | Nozomu Games | |
| | Constracktion | $14.99 | 62 66% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $27,881) | Lapioware | |
| | Parking in Tight Spaces | $9.99 | 40 77% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $11,988) | Hungry Devs | |
| | Alter Evo | $14.99 | 23 95% | 690 | $10k (exactly $10,343) | Technical Fiction | |
| | HorrorDriven: A story for the road | $16.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $6.6k (exactly $6,626) | InputAlfa |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.