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Should I ship an Exploration Minigames game?
Exploration + Minigames
Of 31 developers who shipped an Exploration Minigames 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.. 42 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.7k, ×14 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $840. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 42 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $838 (exactly $838) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.7k (exactly $6,712) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,796) |
| Top 5% | $699k (exactly $698,726) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 90 |
| Announced | 42 |
| 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 145% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Minigames
- 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, Minigames; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 15,730 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + 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
- + Job SimulatorPoor odds
Comparable games
It Takes Two 2021 · $262M 
Star Wars Outlaws 2024 · $26M 
Sledding Game 2026 · EA · $699k 
Bratz™: Flaunt your fashion 2022 · $400k 
McPixel 3 2022 · $359k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | It Takes Two | older | $39.99 | 218,492 95% | 6.6M | $262M (exactly $262,124,852) | Hazelight Studios |
| | Star Wars Outlaws | $69.99 | 12,268 71% | 368k | $26M (exactly $25,759,120) | Massive Entertainment – A Ubisoft Studio | |
| | Sledding Game | · EA | $7.99 | 2,915 96% | 87k | $699k (exactly $698,726) | The Sledding Corporation |
| | Bratz™: Flaunt your fashion | older | $29.99 | 445 77% | 13k | $400k (exactly $400,366) | Petoons Studio |
| | McPixel 3 | older | $9.99 | 1,199 96% | 36k | $359k (exactly $359,340) | Sos Sosowski |
 | Knuckle Sandwich | older | $19.99 | 517 86% | 16k | $310k (exactly $310,045) | Andy Brophy |
 | Creature Crafter | older | $7.99 | 745 86% | 22k | $179k (exactly $178,576) | Daniel Lochner |
 | My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery | older | $39.99 | 126 73% | 3.8k | $151k (exactly $151,162) | Drakhar Studios |
 | Mayor May Knott | $24.99 | 189 100% | 5.7k | $142k (exactly $141,693) | Ravenous Images | |
 | SPOOKWARE | older | $4.99 | 709 79% | 21k | $106k (exactly $106,137) | BEESWAX GAMES |
 | Barbie Project Friendship™ | $39.99 | 41 80% | 1.2k | $49k (exactly $49,188) | Xaloc Studios, Casual Brothers Ltd. | |
 | Shujinkou | $59.99 | 26 92% | 780 | $47k (exactly $46,792) | Rice Games Inc | |
 | Magical Blush | $14.99 | 58 94% | 1.7k | $26k (exactly $26,083) | Alkacer Game Studio | |
 | Ritus Exorcismus | $5.99 | 138 99% | 4.1k | $25k (exactly $24,799) | Dernhelm Games | |
 | PAW Patrol™: Dino World | $39.99 | 14 64% | 420 | $17k (exactly $16,796) | 3DClouds | |
 | Garden Ink | $9.50 | 55 100% | 1.7k | $16k (exactly $15,675) | Kranich | |
 | Bittersweet Birthday | $17.99 | 26 92% | 780 | $14k (exactly $14,032) | World Eater Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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