Games › Economy › Economy + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Economy game?
Economy + Horror
Of 30 developers who shipped a Horror Economy 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.. 48 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.9k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $980k, ×1565 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 48 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $960 (exactly $960) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.9k (exactly $7,947) |
| Top 25% | $122k (exactly $122,016) |
| Top 5% | $983k (exactly $983,060) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 48 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Economy; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Strategy
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 26,882 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $960. 5 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + ScienceFair
- + MiningFair
- + LootFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + God GameFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
Comparable games
Cookie Clicker 2021 · $13M 
Dungeons 3 2017 · $11M 
A Game About Digging A Hole™ 2025 · $2.8M 
Ravenous Devils 2022 · $1.4M 
The Walking Trade 2026 · $983k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cookie Clicker | older | $4.99 | 87,916 96% | 2.6M | $13M (exactly $13,161,025) | Orteil, DashNet |
| | Dungeons 3 | older | $29.99 | 12,648 93% | 379k | $11M (exactly $11,379,406) | Realmforge Studios |
| | A Game About Digging A Hole™ | $4.99 | 18,785 89% | 564k | $2.8M (exactly $2,812,114) | DoubleBee | |
| | Ravenous Devils | older | $4.99 | 9,477 92% | 284k | $1.4M (exactly $1,418,707) | Bad Vices Games |
| | The Walking Trade | $11.99 | 2,733 86% | 82k | $983k (exactly $983,060) | Microwave Games | |
 | Worshippers of Cthulhu | $24.99 | 1,305 80% | 39k | $978k (exactly $978,358) | Crazy Goat Games | |
 | DarkSwitch | $34.99 | 714 77% | 21k | $749k (exactly $749,486) | Cyber Temple | |
 | Shadows of Forbidden Gods | older | $19.99 | 1,046 91% | 31k | $627k (exactly $627,286) | Bobby Two Hands |
 | MachiaVillain | older | $19.99 | 723 64% | 22k | $434k (exactly $433,583) | Wild Factor |
 | Pizza Connection 3 | older | $19.99 | 668 48% | 20k | $401k (exactly $400,600) | Gentlymad Studios |
 | Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator | $19.99 | 513 91% | 15k | $308k (exactly $307,646) | Strange Scaffold | |
 | Tingus Goose | $6.99 | 1,224 89% | 37k | $257k (exactly $256,673) | SweatyChair | |
 | Mars Attracts | · EA | $24.99 | 209 91% | 6.3k | $157k (exactly $156,687) | Outlier |
 | Execute | $5.99 | 679 91% | 20k | $122k (exactly $122,016) | Payne Robinson | |
 | The Unholy Priest | $9.99 | 370 72% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,889) | Grejuva | |
 | Miseria | $7.99 | 350 58% | 11k | $84k (exactly $83,895) | Somnambulist Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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