Do I ship it?

Games › Mining › Mining + Dwarves

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dwarf Mining game?

Mining + Dwarves

Only 17 developers shipped a Dwarf Mining 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, Orebound, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $9.6k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $900. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 26 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 26 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Mining + Dwarves
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $46k → $212k → $5.2k → $152k (still earning) → $29k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Mining + Dwarves: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $9.6k (exactly $9,581)
Top 25% $152k (exactly $151,999)
Top 5% $708k (exactly $708,466)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 33
Announced 26
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 90% on the market, supply 365% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Mining
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Dwarves
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Mining; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Crafting, Resource Management, Simulation
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 4,295 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 $9.6k, 1 in 4 over $150k, 1 in 20 over $700k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 26 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FarmingStrong odds18 devs · median $22k · 15 announced
  2. + TradingFair32 devs · median $12k · 33 announced
  3. + Tower DefenseFair33 devs · median $6.3k · 45 announced
  4. + EconomyFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  5. + AutomationFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  6. + Turn-Based StrategyFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  7. + IncrementalFair141 devs · median $3.9k · 207 announced
  8. + NatureFair42 devs · median $2.4k · 49 announced
  9. + IdlerFair136 devs · median $2.3k · 185 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair91 devs · median $2.2k · 125 announced
  11. + CollectathonFair63 devs · median $2.1k · 53 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair36 devs · median $1.9k · 39 announced

All 91 pairs on the Mining page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

KeeperRL 2024 · $1.0M Orebound 2024 · EA · $708k Dwarf Eats Mountain 2026 · $334k Medieval Crafter: Blacksmith 2026 · $268k Stonewards 2026 · EA · $242k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
KeeperRL older $19.99 1,677 83% 50k $1.0M (exactly $1,005,697) Electric Succubi
Orebound · EA $24.99 945 77% 28k $708k (exactly $708,466) Emberforge
Dwarf Eats Mountain $9.99 1,114 80% 33k $334k (exactly $333,866) Green Wizard
Medieval Crafter: Blacksmith $11.99 745 76% 22k $268k (exactly $267,976) Compact Core Games
Stonewards · EA $9.99 806 94% 24k $242k (exactly $241,558) Banana Tiger Studio
BORE BLASTERS older $9.99 709 80% 21k $212k (exactly $212,487) 8BitSkull
Dwarfs!? older $9.99 644 79% 19k $193k (exactly $193,007) Power of 2
Diggles: The Myth of Fenris older $9.99 619 89% 19k $186k (exactly $185,514) Spieleentwicklungskombinat GmbH, Genera… (Spieleentwicklungskombinat GmbH, General Arcade)
Below the Stone · EA older $14.99 391 83% 12k $176k (exactly $175,833) Strollart
Hold The Mine · EA $14.99 338 83% 10k $152k (exactly $151,999) Hookaria Games
Mining and Dwarves $6.99 140 65% 4.2k $29k (exactly $29,358) Sockhouse Studios
Gem Miner TD $12.99 72 97% 2.2k $28k (exactly $28,058) iFeral Games
Into the Slimy Mines $12.99 26 100% 780 $10k (exactly $10,132) Ant Workshop Ltd
OREBLAZE $4.99 64 92% 1.9k $9.6k (exactly $9,581) Ludiminal Games
Deepstone Rift · EA $4.99 45 68% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) Northend Games

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