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Should I ship a Mining Life Sim?
Life Sim + Mining
Of 43 developers who shipped a Mining Life Sim 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.. 58 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.7k, ×18 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×863 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 58 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,078) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) |
| Top 25% | $104k (exactly $104,162) |
| Top 5% | $410k (exactly $410,086) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 43 |
| Released games | 77 |
| Announced | 58 |
| 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 105% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 1%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Mining; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Crafting, Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 48,783 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 4 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
My Time at Portia 2019 · $31M 
My Time at Sandrock 2023 · $29M 
Coral Island 2023 · $20M 
Sun Haven 2023 · $17M 
Fields of Mistria 2026 · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | My Time at Portia | older | $29.99 | 34,844 91% | 1.0M | $31M (exactly $31,349,147) | Pathea Games |
| | My Time at Sandrock | older | $39.99 | 24,110 88% | 723k | $29M (exactly $28,924,767) | Pathea Games |
| | 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 |
| | Fields of Mistria | $13.99 | 31,918 96% | 958k | $13M (exactly $13,395,985) | NPC Studio | |
 | Luma Island | $19.99 | 11,204 84% | 336k | $6.7M (exactly $6,719,039) | Feel Free Games | |
 | Immortal Life | older | $16.99 | 3,853 79% | 116k | $2.0M (exactly $1,963,874) | YiFang Studio |
 | Cattails | Become a Cat! | older | $14.99 | 2,315 95% | 69k | $1.0M (exactly $1,041,056) | Falcon Development |
 | Cattails: Wildwood Story | older | $19.99 | 1,479 97% | 44k | $887k (exactly $886,956) | Falcon Development |
 | The Ranchers | · EA | $24.99 | 547 57% | 16k | $410k (exactly $410,086) | The Ranchers |
 | Fuel Harvest Together | $13.99 | 879 69% | 26k | $369k (exactly $368,916) | Say2Sun | |
 | Gemporium: A Cute Mining Sim | $9.99 | 1,153 93% | 35k | $346k (exactly $345,554) | Merge Conflict Studio | |
 | My Little Blacksmith Shop | $9.99 | 1,111 69% | 33k | $333k (exactly $332,967) | Dasius, Noble Games Studio | |
 | Medieval Crafter: Blacksmith | $11.99 | 745 76% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,976) | Compact Core Games | |
 | Wild Indigo Ranch | $19.99 | 424 68% | 13k | $254k (exactly $254,273) | Funday Games | |
 | 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 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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