Do I ship it?

GamesLife SimLife Sim + Local Multiplayer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Life Sim?

Life Sim + Local Multiplayer

Only 9 developers shipped a Local Multiplayer Life Sim in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Wobbly Life, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $2.1k against a market of $480. 19 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 4.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 19 announced, ×4.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Life Sim + Local Multiplayer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Life Sim + Local Multiplayer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $35k (exactly $35,329)
Top 5% $25M (exactly $24,765,590)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 31
Announced 19
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 75% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Life Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Local Multiplayer
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
Life Sim, Local Multiplayer
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 51,799 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 $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $35k, 1 in 20 over $24M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds38 devs · median $54k · 21 announced
  2. + MinigamesStrong odds20 devs · median $11k · 19 announced
  3. + MusicStrong odds28 devs · median $9.2k · 20 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair144 devs · median $19k · 153 announced
  5. + Football (Soccer)Fair10 devs · median $10k · 16 announced
  6. + FaithFair11 devs · median $9.4k · 13 announced
  7. + Artificial IntelligenceFair92 devs · median $7.3k · 121 announced
  8. + GamblingFair28 devs · median $4.0k · 32 announced
  9. + DemonsFair16 devs · median $2.4k · 22 announced
  10. + Point & ClickFair162 devs · median $2.4k · 219 announced
  11. + LogicFair70 devs · median $1.5k · 74 announced
  12. + ZombiesFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 34 announced

All 173 pairs on the Life Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Wobbly Life $24.99 33,034 97% 991k $25M (exactly $24,765,590) RubberBandGames
Monster Prom older $11.99 12,245 93% 367k $4.4M (exactly $4,404,526) Beautiful Glitch
THE GAME OF LIFE 2 older $12.49 3,702 78% 111k $1.4M (exactly $1,387,139) Marmalade Game Studio Ltd
Game Dev Story older $8.99 1,445 89% 43k $390k (exactly $389,716) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Startopia older $6.99 844 91% 25k $177k (exactly $176,987) My Little Planet Ltd, Mucky Foot Produc… (My Little Planet Ltd, Mucky Foot Productions Ltd)
Goalgetter older $19.99 96 80% 2.9k $58k (exactly $57,571) netmin games
Dooms Hair Salon $9.99 134 89% 4.0k $40k (exactly $40,160) Slimebox
Sex With Friends $4.99 236 94% 7.1k $35k (exactly $35,329) B-Team
Life in Willowdale: Farm Adventures older $19.99 25 40% 750 $15k (exactly $14,992) Mindscape, Frag Games
Road Food Simulator $12.99 38 57% 1.1k $15k (exactly $14,809) 2MEDYA
Market Empire Simulator $4.99 14 78% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) Coffeeshake Games
HALFTIME Manager · EA $14.99 2 100% 60 $899 (exactly $899) Lazybraindev
Late Night Fears $3.99 3 33% 90 $359 (exactly $359) WolfAlert
Environment Protection Ambassador $0.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) CHEN YUANJI
Digital Creative Framework $15.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Oranje 44 Studio

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