Games › Exploration › Exploration + Farming Sim
Should I ship an Exploration Farming Sim?
Exploration + Farming Sim
Of 181 developers who shipped an Exploration Farming Sim 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.. 434 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.1k, ×17 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $1.8M, ×3997 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 434 games are announced against 96 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $836 (exactly $836) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.1k (exactly $8,097) |
| Top 25% | $87k (exactly $87,370) |
| Top 5% | $1.9M (exactly $1,898,650) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 181 |
| Released games | 411 |
| Announced | 434 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Farming Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, Farming Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Crafting, Simulation, Sandbox
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute, Cozy
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 79,092 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 7 in 10 of the 94 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 434 games are announced against 96 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
DAVE THE DIVER 2023 · $86M 
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition 2020 · $42M 
My Time at Portia 2019 · $31M 
Disney Dreamlight Valley 2023 · $26M 
Forager 2019 · $21M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DAVE THE DIVER | older | $19.99 | 142,662 96% | 4.3M | $86M (exactly $85,554,401) | MINTROCKET |
| | Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition | older | $29.99 | 47,176 94% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,444,247) | Thunder Lotus |
| | My Time at Portia | older | $29.99 | 34,844 91% | 1.0M | $31M (exactly $31,349,147) | Pathea Games |
| | Disney Dreamlight Valley | older | $39.99 | 22,027 92% | 661k | $26M (exactly $26,425,792) | Gameloft |
| | Forager | older | $19.99 | 35,385 90% | 1.1M | $21M (exactly $21,220,384) | HopFrog |
 | Sun Haven | older | $24.99 | 22,069 79% | 662k | $17M (exactly $16,545,129) | Pixel Sprout Studios |
 | Dinkum | $19.99 | 24,641 92% | 739k | $15M (exactly $14,777,208) | James Bendon | |
 | Starsand Island | $39.99 | 5,898 76% | 177k | $7.1M (exactly $7,075,831) | Seed Sparkle Lab | |
 | Little Witch in the Woods | $19.99 | 11,691 89% | 351k | $7.0M (exactly $7,011,093) | SUNNY SIDE UP | |
 | The Wandering Village | $29.99 | 7,734 91% | 232k | $7.0M (exactly $6,958,280) | Stray Fawn Studio | |
 | Luma Island | $19.99 | 11,204 84% | 336k | $6.7M (exactly $6,719,039) | Feel Free Games | |
 | Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma | $59.99 | 2,947 88% | 88k | $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Flotsam | $24.99 | 4,308 80% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) | Pajama Llama Games | |
 | Solarpunk™ | $22.99 | 3,492 81% | 105k | $2.4M (exactly $2,408,432) | Cyberwave | |
 | I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival | $19.99 | 4,011 83% | 120k | $2.4M (exactly $2,405,397) | Mandragora | |
 | Doloc Town | $19.99 | 3,166 94% | 95k | $1.9M (exactly $1,898,650) | RedSaw Games Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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