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Should I ship a Point & Click Life Sim?
Life Sim + Point & Click
Of 162 developers who shipped a Point & Click 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.. 219 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×5.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 219 games are announced against 113 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $446 (exactly $446) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,422) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,270) |
| Top 5% | $356k (exactly $355,622) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 162 |
| Released games | 374 |
| Announced | 219 |
| 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 up 60% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Point & Click
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Point & Click; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 34,184 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 69 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 219 games are announced against 113 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
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 37,870 92% | 1.1M | $23M (exactly $22,710,639) | niceplay games |
| | Unpacking | older | $19.99 | 35,072 93% | 1.1M | $21M (exactly $21,032,678) | Witch Beam |
| | VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action | older | $14.99 | 33,838 97% | 1.0M | $15M (exactly $15,216,949) | Sukeban Games |
| | 60 Seconds! Reatomized | older | $9.99 | 18,362 94% | 551k | $5.5M (exactly $5,503,091) | Robot Gentleman |
| | Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story | $11.99 | 12,215 98% | 366k | $4.4M (exactly $4,393,736) | Nestopi Inc. | |
| | Mr. Prepper | older | $19.99 | 4,795 81% | 144k | $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) | Rejected Games |
| | Whisper of the House | $14.99 | 5,344 96% | 160k | $2.4M (exactly $2,403,197) | 元气弹工作室(GD Studio) | |
| | Sticky Business | older | $9.99 | 6,001 95% | 180k | $1.8M (exactly $1,798,500) | Spellgarden Games |
| | Not Tonight | older | $19.99 | 2,220 84% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) | PanicBarn |
| | The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian | $24.99 | 1,356 74% | 41k | $1.0M (exactly $1,016,593) | Schisma Games | |
| | Ithya: Magic Studies | $10.99 | 2,103 97% | 63k | $693k (exactly $693,359) | BlueTurtle | |
| | Ship, Inc. | $9.99 | 2,168 83% | 65k | $650k (exactly $649,750) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
| | Maltese's Fluffy Onsen | $5.99 | 2,727 94% | 82k | $490k (exactly $490,042) | Sinkhole Studio, Moonlab Studio | |
| | Lost But Found | $6.99 | 2,316 71% | 69k | $486k (exactly $485,665) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
| | Organized Inside | $7.99 | 2,024 94% | 61k | $485k (exactly $485,153) | Meox Studio | |
| | Thrifty Business | $12.99 | 1,228 97% | 37k | $479k (exactly $478,552) | Spellgarden Games | |
| | and Roger | $4.99 | 2,703 95% | 81k | $405k (exactly $404,639) | TearyHand Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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