Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Farming
Should I ship a Farming Sandbox?
Sandbox + Farming
Of 41 developers who shipped a Farming Sandbox 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.. 51 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $25k, ×39 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $6.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $4.4M, ×7085 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 51 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $6.0k (exactly $5,992) |
|---|---|
| Median | $25k (exactly $24,588) |
| Top 25% | $300k (exactly $300,350) |
| Top 5% | $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 41 |
| Released games | 78 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Crafting
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 85,470 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $6.0k. 5 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm 2023 · $31M 
Dinkum 2025 · $15M 
Fields of Mistria 2026 · $13M 
Len's Island 2025 · $4.4M 
HARVESTELLA 2022 · $3.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm | older | $24.99 | 40,862 79% | 1.2M | $31M (exactly $30,634,241) | Toxic Dog |
| | Dinkum | $19.99 | 24,641 92% | 739k | $15M (exactly $14,777,208) | James Bendon | |
| | Fields of Mistria | $13.99 | 31,918 96% | 958k | $13M (exactly $13,395,985) | NPC Studio | |
| | Len's Island | $24.99 | 5,935 82% | 178k | $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) | Flow Studio | |
| | HARVESTELLA | older | $59.99 | 2,071 77% | 62k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,179) | Square Enix |
 | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
 | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
 | Kynseed | older | $24.99 | 3,513 83% | 105k | $2.6M (exactly $2,633,696) | PixelCount Studios |
 | Solarpunk™ | $22.99 | 3,492 81% | 105k | $2.4M (exactly $2,408,432) | Cyberwave | |
 | Aloft | · EA | $24.99 | 3,057 82% | 92k | $2.3M (exactly $2,291,833) | Astrolabe Interactive Inc. |
 | Go-Go Town! | $27.99 | 2,476 93% | 74k | $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) | Prideful Sloth | |
 | Mirthwood | $24.99 | 2,242 69% | 67k | $1.7M (exactly $1,680,827) | Bad Ridge Games | |
 | Outbound | $24.99 | 1,788 73% | 54k | $1.3M (exactly $1,340,464) | Square Glade Games | |
 | Zombie Graveyard Simulator | $14.99 | 805 89% | 24k | $362k (exactly $362,008) | threeW |
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.