Do I ship it?

GamesLife SimLife Sim + Point & Click

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 5.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 219 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Life Sim + Point & Click
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 162
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.1k → $11k → $6.2k → $1.4k → $4.5k → $2.4k → $4.7k (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Life Sim + Point & Click: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 162
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.

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
Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high 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, 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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $350k.

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.

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. + LogicFair70 devs · median $1.5k · 74 announced
  11. + ZombiesFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 34 announced
  12. + Walking SimulatorFair126 devs · median $1.3k · 144 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
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.