Do I ship it?

GamesFishingFishing + Mining

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Fishing Mining game?

Fishing + Mining

Of 36 developers who shipped a Fishing 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×898 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 66 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 66 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Fishing + Mining
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $55k → $262k → $2.9k → $1.8k → $30k → $836 (still earning) → $24k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Fishing + Mining: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $450 (exactly $450)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,799)
Top 25% $30k (exactly $30,206)
Top 5% $427k (exactly $426,765)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 81
Announced 66
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 80% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Fishing
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Mining
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Fishing, Mining; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Adventure, Crafting
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Relaxing, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 57% positive over 15,590 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $30k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 5 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Fishing with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FarmingFair31 devs · median $18k · 26 announced
  2. + AutomationFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  3. + IncrementalFair64 devs · median $1.8k · 87 announced
  4. + Score AttackFair11 devs · median $719 · 8 announced
  5. + ArcadeFair51 devs · median $716 · 64 announced
  6. + Co-opPoor odds39 devs · median $70k · 73 announced
  7. + RomancePoor odds14 devs · median $47k · 29 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds34 devs · median $36k · 85 announced
  9. + EconomyPoor odds49 devs · median $23k · 66 announced
  10. + CapitalismPoor odds15 devs · median $23k · 18 announced
  11. + AgriculturePoor odds48 devs · median $18k · 80 announced
  12. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $15k · 30 announced

All 77 pairs on the Fishing page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Coral Island older $29.99 21,828 89% 655k $20M (exactly $19,638,652) Stairway Games
Sun Haven older $24.99 22,069 79% 662k $17M (exactly $16,545,129) Pixel Sprout Studios
Melvor Idle older $9.99 14,630 90% 439k $4.4M (exactly $4,384,611) Games by Malcs
The Quinfall $9.99 12,073 50% 362k $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) Vawraek Technology Inc.
CryoFall older $19.99 4,905 78% 147k $2.9M (exactly $2,941,528) AtomicTorch Studio
Immortal Life older $16.99 3,853 79% 116k $2.0M (exactly $1,963,874) YiFang Studio
OxyRail · EA $14.99 949 80% 28k $427k (exactly $426,765) OxygenTech Limited
Island Notes $12.99 884 82% 27k $344k (exactly $344,495) KangBaoGame
Cornucopia® · EA older $24.99 412 87% 12k $309k (exactly $308,876) David Dolynny
Everafter Falls older $19.99 437 86% 13k $262k (exactly $262,069) SquareHusky
Creator Chronicles $11.99 424 64% 13k $153k (exactly $152,513) Origin Studio
Seeds of Calamity $14.99 271 78% 8.1k $122k (exactly $121,869) Laborious Lark Studios
Loafing Town $6.99 531 85% 16k $111k (exactly $111,351) GoblinZz
Everdeep Aurora $19.99 177 89% 5.3k $106k (exactly $106,147) Nautilus Games
Ice World $9.99 111 57% 3.3k $33k (exactly $33,267) CoolRabbit Games
Firefly Village $8.99 112 86% 3.4k $30k (exactly $30,206) Josh Koenig Games
Cropia $14.99 58 87% 1.7k $26k (exactly $26,083) Cropstone Studio

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.