Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Platformer
Should I ship a Platformer Life Sim?
Life Sim + Platformer
Of 24 developers who shipped a Platformer 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.. 26 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $17k, ×37 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 26 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $148 (exactly $148) |
|---|---|
| Median | $838 (exactly $838) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 5% | $18k (exactly $17,536) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 63 |
| Announced | 26 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 down 45% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Cute, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 317 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 13 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
Magical Delicacy 2024 · $180k 
Garlic Builder 2024 · $72k 
Cat Island Petrichor 2026 · $39k 
Duck Life 4 2020 · $39k 
Candy Shop Simulator 2025 · $18k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Magical Delicacy | older | $24.99 | 240 77% | 7.2k | $180k (exactly $179,928) | Skaule |
| | Garlic Builder | older | $7.99 | 299 92% | 9.0k | $72k (exactly $71,670) | CaveLiquid |
| | Cat Island Petrichor | $14.99 | 87 70% | 2.6k | $39k (exactly $39,124) | LuminousNote | |
| | Duck Life 4 | older | $4.99 | 261 86% | 7.8k | $39k (exactly $39,072) | Wix Games |
| | Candy Shop Simulator | $12.99 | 45 60% | 1.4k | $18k (exactly $17,536) | Games Incubator | |
 | Fantasy Fishing Town | older | $6.99 | 81 77% | 2.4k | $17k (exactly $16,986) | RainbowStudio |
 | Online Sparkler | older | $4.99 | 72 88% | 2.2k | $11k (exactly $10,778) | 宮村あつき |
 | AI Faith: Compute [>_AIFC] | $4.99 | 55 81% | 1.7k | $8.2k (exactly $8,234) | Beneloop.ai | |
 | Hot Pot VR | · EA older | $16.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $8.2k (exactly $8,155) | Cantarella Massimiliano, La Spina Franc… (Cantarella Massimiliano, La Spina Francesco) |
 | DIGGERGUN | $9.99 | 20 90% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Kabloop | |
 | Prison Escape Simulator | $9.99 | 18 77% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | PEGAX Studios | |
 | SWEYET(etc.) | $9.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Liam Kenna (Shmiam, Sshmiam, 5hmiam, Sh… (Liam Kenna (Shmiam, Sshmiam, 5hmiam, Shmiam Shmenna)) | |
 | Theanthria | · EA | $4.99 | 21 71% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | HectoCacto |
 | Coney's | $5.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $2.9k (exactly $2,875) | Technical Gentleman Productions | |
 | Trump Tariff | $1.99 | 21 71% | 630 | $1.3k (exactly $1,254) | Valkeala Software, Tero Lunkka | |
 | Trump Horror | $1.99 | 20 65% | 600 | $1.2k (exactly $1,194) | Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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