Games › Exploration › Exploration + Job Simulator
Should I ship an Exploration Job Simulator?
Exploration + Job Simulator
Of 31 developers who shipped an Exploration Job Simulator 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.. 56 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $23k, ×49 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $490k, ×1032 the market median. Revenue is up 110% on the market; 56 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.9k (exactly $2,875) |
|---|---|
| Median | $23k (exactly $23,384) |
| Top 25% | $119k (exactly $118,721) |
| Top 5% | $490k (exactly $490,243) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 52 |
| Announced | 56 |
| 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 up 110% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Job Simulator
- 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, Job Simulator; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Life Sim, Sandbox
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Family Friendly, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 8,668 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.9k. 5 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator 2024 · $4.0M 
Loddlenaut 2023 · $2.3M 
Go-Go Town! 2026 · $2.1M 
Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist 2023 · $925k 
TramSim Munich - The Tram Simulator 2021 · $570k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator | older | $29.99 | 4,414 62% | 132k | $4.0M (exactly $3,971,276) | Simteract |
| | Loddlenaut | older | $19.99 | 3,832 98% | 115k | $2.3M (exactly $2,298,050) | Moon Lagoon |
| | Go-Go Town! | $27.99 | 2,476 93% | 74k | $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) | Prideful Sloth | |
| | Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist | older | $24.99 | 1,234 95% | 37k | $925k (exactly $925,130) | Flamebait Games |
| | TramSim Munich - The Tram Simulator | older | $34.99 | 543 67% | 16k | $570k (exactly $569,987) | ViewApp |
 | Chop Chop Inc. | $12.99 | 1,258 90% | 38k | $490k (exactly $490,243) | NullRef Entertainment | |
 | Fuel Harvest Together | $13.99 | 879 69% | 26k | $369k (exactly $368,916) | Say2Sun | |
 | A Game About Chopping Trees | $7.99 | 1,083 85% | 32k | $260k (exactly $259,595) | Space Raccoon Game Studio | |
 | Bear's Restaurant | older | $12.99 | 649 94% | 19k | $253k (exactly $252,915) | Odencat |
 | Final Profit: A Shop RPG | older | $14.99 | 520 95% | 16k | $234k (exactly $233,844) | Brent Arnold |
 | Worming from Home | $7.99 | 793 98% | 24k | $190k (exactly $190,082) | Zach Northrop, Mason Sabharwal | |
 | Catto's Post Office | $4.99 | 1,203 97% | 36k | $180k (exactly $180,089) | In Shambles Studio | |
 | Snow Plowing Simulator | $15.99 | 281 64% | 8.4k | $135k (exactly $134,796) | FreeMind S.A. | |
 | Map Map - A Game About Maps | $14.99 | 264 91% | 7.9k | $119k (exactly $118,721) | Pipapo Games | |
 | Critter Café | $9.99 | 266 72% | 8.0k | $80k (exactly $79,720) | Sumo Digital | |
 | High Seas, High Profits! | $14.99 | 165 86% | 5.0k | $74k (exactly $74,200) | lexy.zip |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.