Do I ship it?

Games › God Game › God Game + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle God Game?

God Game + Puzzle

Of 27 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 30 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 30 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 115% on the market, 30 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
God Game + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $2.8k → $657 → $2.7k → $1.3k → $359 → $1.5k (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for God Game + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $356 (exactly $356)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,198)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $15,285)
Top 5% $259k (exactly $258,543)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 130
Announced 30
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 115% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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.

God Game
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
God Game, Puzzle; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Building, Simulation
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 2,380 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + HistoricalFair19 devs · median $12k · 28 announced
  2. + EconomyFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  3. + Inventory ManagementFair16 devs · median $1.1k · 15 announced
  4. + DestructionFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  5. + DystopianFair14 devs · median $898 · 10 announced
  6. + IdlerFair91 devs · median $839 · 95 announced
  7. + IncrementalFair79 devs · median $807 · 71 announced
  8. + ArcadeLong shot17 devs · median $390 · 20 announced
  9. + Farming SimLong shot22 devs · median $359 · 24 announced
  10. + AgricultureLong shot9 devs · median $180 · 7 announced
  11. + Base BuildingPoor odds37 devs · median $28k · 77 announced
  12. + Tower DefensePoor odds16 devs · median $22k · 22 announced

All 96 pairs on the God Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Reus 2 2024 · $1.6M Reus 2013 · $1.5M From Dust 2011 · $1.3M Doodle God 2015 · $463k Mountain 2014 · $384k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Reus 2 older $24.99 2,133 94% 64k $1.6M (exactly $1,599,110) Abbey Games
Reus older $9.99 4,891 77% 147k $1.5M (exactly $1,465,833) Abbey Games
From Dust older $14.99 2,803 67% 84k $1.3M (exactly $1,260,509) Ubisoft Montpellier
Doodle God older $14.99 1,030 77% 31k $463k (exactly $463,191) JoyBits Ltd.
Mountain older $0.99 12,921 88% 388k $384k (exactly $383,754) David OReilly
Paper Beast older $19.99 529 94% 16k $317k (exactly $317,241) Pixel Reef
MINOS $17.99 544 88% 16k $294k (exactly $293,597) Artificer
Darwinia older $11.99 781 78% 23k $281k (exactly $280,926) Introversion Software
Simmiland older $4.99 1,800 86% 54k $269k (exactly $269,460) Sokpop Collective
Preserve $12.49 690 92% 21k $259k (exactly $258,543) Bitmap Galaxy
Terra Firma 2 · EA $19.99 200 92% 6.0k $120k (exactly $119,940) Working as Intended
Technotopia $4.99 599 86% 18k $90k (exactly $89,670) Yustas
Nuclear Design Bureau · EA $9.99 88 79% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,374) Design Bureau KB-11
Hexagod · EA $7.99 84 88% 2.5k $20k (exactly $20,135) Aarimous
Zen World $9.99 51 80% 1.5k $15k (exactly $15,285) Cartboard Games
Hideko $4.99 90 97% 2.7k $13k (exactly $13,473) Sokpop Collective
Weather Dragger $7.99 19 100% 570 $4.6k (exactly $4,554) Geese & Goose
The Big Number $3.99 15 93% 450 $1.8k (exactly $1,796) vacp

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