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Should I ship a Life Sim God Game?
God Game + Life Sim
Of 43 developers who shipped a Life Sim God 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.. 67 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $320k, ×522 the market median. Revenue is up 290% on the market; 67 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,688) |
| Top 5% | $328k (exactly $328,046) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 43 |
| Released games | 131 |
| Announced | 67 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 290% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- God Game, Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Sandbox
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Atmospheric, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 5,014 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
God Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + HistoricalFair
- + EconomyFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + DestructionFair
- + DystopianFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Farming SimLong shot
- + AgricultureLong shot
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
Comparable games
WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M 
The Tenants 2022 · $4.2M 
Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition 2019 · $1.6M 
Reus 2 2024 · $1.6M 
Sapiens 2022 · EA · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | WorldBox - God Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 51,071 95% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,627,279) | Maxim Karpenko |
| | The Tenants | older | $19.99 | 7,071 79% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,240,479) | EndGameLoop Games |
| | Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition | older | $14.99 | 3,579 55% | 107k | $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) | Klabater |
| | Reus 2 | older | $24.99 | 2,133 94% | 64k | $1.6M (exactly $1,599,110) | Abbey Games |
| | Sapiens | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,052 80% | 62k | $1.5M (exactly $1,538,384) | Majic Jungle |
 | The Sapling | · EA older | $17.99 | 1,922 89% | 58k | $1.0M (exactly $1,037,303) | Wessel Stoop |
 | I Am Jesus Christ | $19.99 | 1,486 87% | 45k | $891k (exactly $891,154) | Space Boat Studios | |
 | Motesolo : No Girlfriend Since Birth | older | $22.99 | 1,011 86% | 30k | $697k (exactly $697,287) | INDICAVA INTERACTIVE |
 | Fish Game | older | $24.99 | 589 93% | 18k | $442k (exactly $441,573) | A Shell in the Pit Games, Creative Ink… (A Shell in the Pit Games, Creative Ink Games) |
 | Deisim | older | $14.99 | 873 93% | 26k | $393k (exactly $392,588) | Myron Games |
 | Ecosystem | $19.99 | 601 76% | 18k | $360k (exactly $360,420) | Tom Johnson | |
 | Planetary Life | · EA | $11.99 | 912 94% | 27k | $328k (exactly $328,046) | Sotenbox |
 | Sinner Maker | · EA | $9.66 | 545 91% | 16k | $158k (exactly $157,941) | Pantokrator |
 | Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar | $14.99 | 263 87% | 7.9k | $118k (exactly $118,271) | Venugopalan Sreedharan | |
 | Loafing Town | $6.99 | 531 85% | 16k | $111k (exactly $111,351) | GoblinZz | |
 | ANLIFE: Motion-Learning Life Evolution | $13.99 | 161 83% | 4.8k | $68k (exactly $67,572) | Attructure Inc. | |
 | 吾皇万岁 | $4.99 | 422 68% | 13k | $63k (exactly $63,173) | AI GAME STUDIO | |
 | Genesis of a Small God | $17.99 | 61 80% | 1.8k | $33k (exactly $32,922) | Pierre Nury | |
 | Once Upon The Universe | · EA | $14.99 | 32 93% | 960 | $14k (exactly $14,390) | Paweł Witkowski ByteEncode |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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