Games › Economy › Economy + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Economy game?
Economy + Puzzle
Of 66 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 113 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×297 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 113 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $4.3k (exactly $4,341) |
| Top 5% | $187k (exactly $186,507) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 66 |
| Released games | 196 |
| Announced | 113 |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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, Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Automation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 14,418 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 113 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different second tag, 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
The Farmer Was Replaced 2025 · $2.7M 
Rail Route 2024 · $1.8M 
Sticky Business 2023 · $1.8M 
Parcel Simulator 2025 · $1.5M 
House Builder 2024 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
| | Rail Route | older | $24.99 | 2,400 88% | 72k | $1.8M (exactly $1,799,280) | Bitrich.info |
| | Sticky Business | older | $9.99 | 6,001 95% | 180k | $1.8M (exactly $1,798,500) | Spellgarden Games |
| | Parcel Simulator | $17.99 | 2,804 93% | 84k | $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319) | Dansan Digital | |
| | House Builder | older | $19.99 | 2,194 79% | 66k | $1.3M (exactly $1,315,742) | FreeMind S.A. |
 | Slipways | older | $16.99 | 2,233 93% | 67k | $1.1M (exactly $1,138,160) | Beetlewing |
 | RAILGRADE | older | $29.99 | 1,205 84% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,084,138) | Minakata Dynamics |
 | Big Pharma | older | $24.99 | 1,443 78% | 43k | $1.1M (exactly $1,081,817) | Twice Circled |
 | Urbek City Builder | older | $18.99 | 1,830 89% | 55k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,551) | Fridus |
 | No Umbrellas Allowed | older | $19.99 | 1,394 80% | 42k | $836k (exactly $835,982) | Hoochoo Game Studios |
 | Kaizen: A Factory Story | $19.99 | 694 91% | 21k | $416k (exactly $416,192) | Coincidence | |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | Teller's Duty | $11.99 | 388 72% | 12k | $140k (exactly $139,564) | Hiscory | |
 | Beff Jezos Simulator | $9.99 | 387 68% | 12k | $116k (exactly $115,984) | tiplay studio | |
 | Super Loco World - Cozy Train Automation | $9.99 | 329 76% | 9.9k | $99k (exactly $98,601) | Andrii Bychkovskyi | |
 | Check Inn | $14.99 | 197 84% | 5.9k | $89k (exactly $88,591) | KishMish Games | |
 | Airport Baggage Simulator | $17.99 | 100 92% | 3.0k | $54k (exactly $53,970) | Three River Games (3RG) | |
 | Alchemist: The Potion Monger | $13.99 | 92 80% | 2.8k | $39k (exactly $38,612) | Art Games Studio S.A. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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