Games › Exploration › Exploration + Gambling
Should I ship an Exploration Gambling game?
Exploration + Gambling
Of 23 developers who shipped an Exploration Gambling 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.. 28 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×805 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 28 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) |
| Top 25% | $8.8k (exactly $8,805) |
| Top 5% | $383k (exactly $382,609) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 185% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Gambling
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, Gambling; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Roguelike, Sandbox
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 20,106 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown 2024 · $9.8M 
Gamble With Your Friends 2026 · $4.5M 
Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates 2026 · $383k 
硬币与仙人掌 (Coins & Wishpalm) 2025 · $144k 
Metro Sim Hustle 2021 · $105k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown | older | $49.99 | 6,536 38% | 196k | $9.8M (exactly $9,802,039) | KT Racing |
| | Gamble With Your Friends | $7.99 | 18,883 89% | 566k | $4.5M (exactly $4,526,255) | TEAM GWYF | |
| | Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates | $19.99 | 638 70% | 19k | $383k (exactly $382,609) | ReCon Team | |
| | 硬币与仙人掌 (Coins & Wishpalm) | $13.99 | 343 77% | 10k | $144k (exactly $143,957) | Moshow Games | |
| | Metro Sim Hustle | older | $9.99 | 352 75% | 11k | $105k (exactly $105,494) | Departure Interactive |
 | ColdRidge | $9.99 | 97 73% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $29,071) | Frog Collective | |
 | DOLLMAKER | $8.99 | 45 97% | 1.4k | $12k (exactly $12,136) | STH | |
 | Dystopian Pet Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 49 93% | 1.5k | $8.8k (exactly $8,805) | dinca.team |
 | Callparin 2 | older | $19.99 | 10 20% | 300 | $6.0k (exactly $5,997) | Marco Games |
 | Desperate Gambling | · EA | $10.99 | 13 84% | 390 | $4.3k (exactly $4,286) | Gaetha |
 | Scary Shadow Spot - All In | $7.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $3.8k (exactly $3,835) | Daniele Doesn't Matter | |
 | TradingLife | · EA | $11.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) | Fun(ctor) Studio |
 | Casino Casualty | $7.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) | GlitchedLizard |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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