Do I ship it?

Games › Economy › Economy + Point & Click

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Point & Click Economy game?

Economy + Point & Click

Of 147 developers who shipped a Point & Click 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.. 181 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $760, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×171 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 181 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 181 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy + Point & Click
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 147
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $1.2k → $5.7k → $2.5k → $6.3k → $628 → $2.1k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy + Point & Click: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 147
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $756 (exactly $756)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,191)
Top 5% $107k (exactly $107,157)
Developers, 2 yr 147
Released games 275
Announced 181
Effort 5 / 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 70% on the market, supply 175% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Economy, Point & Click; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Resource Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 16,591 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $760, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 54 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 181 games are announced against 109 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. + MiningFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  5. + LootFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  6. + CollectathonFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  7. + God GameFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  8. + Auto BattlerFair59 devs · median $2.4k · 79 announced
  9. + IdlerFair441 devs · median $2.3k · 589 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair408 devs · median $2.2k · 612 announced
  11. + ArcadeFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  12. + Strategy RPGFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced

All 161 pairs on the Economy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Game Dev Tycoon 2013 · $12M Mr. Prepper 2021 · $2.9M Idol Manager 2021 · $2.3M Sticky Business 2023 · $1.8M Digseum 2024 · $721k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Game Dev Tycoon older $9.99 40,312 95% 1.2M $12M (exactly $12,081,506) Greenheart Games 💚
Mr. Prepper older $19.99 4,795 81% 144k $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) Rejected Games
Idol Manager older $19.99 3,777 87% 113k $2.3M (exactly $2,265,067) Glitch Pitch
Sticky Business older $9.99 6,001 95% 180k $1.8M (exactly $1,798,500) Spellgarden Games
Digseum $2.99 8,033 97% 241k $721k (exactly $720,560) Rat Monthly
Lost But Found $6.99 2,316 71% 69k $486k (exactly $485,665) Rogue Duck Interactive
The Executive - Movie Industry Tycoon $14.99 1,034 80% 31k $465k (exactly $464,990) Aniki Games
FACEMINER $7.99 1,517 90% 46k $364k (exactly $363,625) Wristwork
Fracture Field $6.99 1,196 75% 36k $251k (exactly $250,801) Type Ten
Game Corp DX older $2.99 2,712 87% 81k $243k (exactly $243,266) Endless Loop Studios
Wall Street Raider · EA $29.99 222 94% 6.7k $200k (exactly $199,733) Ronin Software, Hackjack Games
Bugtopia $5.99 866 92% 26k $156k (exactly $155,620) Nocturnal Games
Teller's Duty $11.99 388 72% 12k $140k (exactly $139,564) Hiscory
MMO98 $6.99 511 69% 15k $107k (exactly $107,157) BiteMe Games
Carpet Cleaning Simulator $6.99 508 87% 15k $107k (exactly $106,528) daimaGAME

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