Do I ship it?

GamesEconomyEconomy + Mining

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mining Economy game?

Economy + Mining

Of 116 developers who shipped a Mining 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.. 173 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.0k, ×8.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.1k. Revenue is up 330% on the market; 173 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 330% on the market, 173 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy + Mining
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 116
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $959 → $26k → $147k → $6.5k → $1.2k → $4.1k → $4.3k (still earning) → $6.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy + Mining: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 116
Bottom 30% $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Median $5.0k (exactly $5,027)
Top 25% $46k (exactly $46,262)
Top 5% $721k (exactly $720,560)
Developers, 2 yr 116
Released games 176
Announced 173
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 330% on the market, supply 205% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Economy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Mining
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Economy, Mining; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Simulation, Resource Management
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 53,062 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.1k, median $5.0k, 1 in 4 over $46k, 1 in 20 over $720k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 7 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 173 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Economy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorFair116 devs · median $22k · 125 announced
  2. + Football (Soccer)Fair21 devs · median $6.8k · 29 announced
  3. + ScienceFair39 devs · median $5.9k · 39 announced
  4. + LootFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  6. + God GameFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair59 devs · median $2.4k · 79 announced
  8. + IdlerFair441 devs · median $2.3k · 589 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair408 devs · median $2.2k · 612 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  11. + Strategy RPGFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced
  12. + Grid-Based MovementFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced

All 161 pairs on the Economy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Captain of Industry · EA older $34.99 11,027 90% 331k $12M (exactly $11,575,042) MaFi Games
Gold Mining Simulator older $19.99 15,132 72% 454k $9.1M (exactly $9,074,660) Code Horizon
Turmoil older $12.99 13,154 92% 395k $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) Gamious
SpaceBourne 2 $19.99 4,951 75% 149k $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) Burak Dabak
CryoFall older $19.99 4,905 78% 147k $2.9M (exactly $2,941,528) AtomicTorch Studio
A Game About Digging A Hole™ $4.99 18,785 89% 564k $2.8M (exactly $2,812,114) DoubleBee
Automation Empire older $29.99 2,584 65% 78k $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) DOG HOGGLER
(the) Gnorp Apologue older $6.99 9,613 94% 288k $2.0M (exactly $2,015,846) Myco
Immortal Life older $16.99 3,853 79% 116k $2.0M (exactly $1,963,874) YiFang Studio
Thriving City: Song older $18.99 3,054 81% 92k $1.7M (exactly $1,739,864) White Star Studio
Starminer · EA $29.99 1,818 72% 55k $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) CoolAndGoodGames
Keep on Mining! $4.99 8,300 93% 249k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) EagleEye Games
A Game About Feeding A Black Hole $6.99 3,467 88% 104k $727k (exactly $727,030) Aarimous, Thornity
Digseum $2.99 8,033 97% 241k $721k (exactly $720,560) Rat Monthly
The Spotter: Dig or Die $12.99 1,792 84% 54k $698k (exactly $698,342) Puppyroar Games
Ore Factory Squad ⛏️ $12.99 1,646 87% 49k $641k (exactly $641,446) threeW
Keep Digging $6.99 2,927 79% 88k $614k (exactly $613,792) Wild Dog
Coal LLC $14.99 1,343 92% 40k $604k (exactly $603,947) Bye Bye Ocean

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