Games › Mining › Mining + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Mining game?
Mining + Fantasy
Of 62 developers who shipped a Fantasy Mining 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.. 112 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.0k, ×11 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×614 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 112 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.0k (exactly $5,027) |
| Top 25% | $30k (exactly $30,206) |
| Top 5% | $292k (exactly $291,633) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 155 |
| Announced | 112 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 145% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Mining; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Crafting, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 7,642 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 112 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Mining with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + TradingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + EconomyFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + NatureFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
Sun Haven 2023 · $17M 
UnderMine 2020 · $5.6M 
Melvor Idle 2021 · $4.4M 
Hammerting 2021 · $1.3M 
cyubeVR 2018 · EA · $959k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sun Haven | older | $24.99 | 22,069 79% | 662k | $17M (exactly $16,545,129) | Pixel Sprout Studios |
| | UnderMine | older | $19.99 | 9,284 90% | 279k | $5.6M (exactly $5,567,615) | Thorium |
| | Melvor Idle | older | $9.99 | 14,630 90% | 439k | $4.4M (exactly $4,384,611) | Games by Malcs |
| | Hammerting | older | $24.99 | 1,733 57% | 52k | $1.3M (exactly $1,299,230) | Warpzone Studios |
| | cyubeVR | · EA older | $29.99 | 1,066 90% | 32k | $959k (exactly $959,080) | Stonebrick Studios |
 | Odd Realm | older | $19.99 | 954 84% | 29k | $572k (exactly $572,114) | Unknown Origin Games Inc |
 | Click Mage | $4.99 | 2,529 91% | 76k | $379k (exactly $378,591) | Tiny Crow Games | |
 | Island Notes | $12.99 | 884 82% | 27k | $344k (exactly $344,495) | KangBaoGame | |
 | Dwarf Eats Mountain | $9.99 | 1,114 80% | 33k | $334k (exactly $333,866) | Green Wizard | |
 | Ark of Charon | $24.99 | 389 75% | 12k | $292k (exactly $291,633) | Angoo Inc., SUNSOFT | |
 | Stonewards | · EA | $9.99 | 806 94% | 24k | $242k (exactly $241,558) | Banana Tiger Studio |
 | Nuclear Epoch | $14.99 | 487 78% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,004) | Cat Play Studio | |
 | Creator Chronicles | $11.99 | 424 64% | 13k | $153k (exactly $152,513) | Origin Studio | |
 | Hold The Mine | · EA | $14.99 | 338 83% | 10k | $152k (exactly $151,999) | Hookaria Games |
 | Seeds of Calamity | $14.99 | 271 78% | 8.1k | $122k (exactly $121,869) | Laborious Lark Studios | |
 | Kin and Quarry | $9.99 | 400 75% | 12k | $120k (exactly $119,880) | The Fox Knocks |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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