Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Post-apocalyptic
Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Life Sim?
Life Sim + Post-apocalyptic
Of 38 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 82 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $12k, ×19 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $6.9M, ×11080 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 82 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $629 (exactly $629) |
|---|---|
| Median | $12k (exactly $11,988) |
| Top 25% | $118k (exactly $118,141) |
| Top 5% | $7.0M (exactly $6,958,280) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 76 |
| Announced | 82 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 85% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Post-apocalyptic
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Resource Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 28,587 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 5 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 82 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different setting or mood, 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 
Quarantine Zone: The Last Check 2026 · $7.1M 
The Wandering Village 2025 · $7.0M 
60 Seconds! Reatomized 2019 · $5.5M | 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 |
| | Quarantine Zone: The Last Check | $19.99 | 11,827 81% | 355k | $7.1M (exactly $7,092,652) | Brigada Games | |
| | The Wandering Village | $29.99 | 7,734 91% | 232k | $7.0M (exactly $6,958,280) | Stray Fawn Studio | |
| | 60 Seconds! Reatomized | older | $9.99 | 18,362 94% | 551k | $5.5M (exactly $5,503,091) | Robot Gentleman |
 | Rusty's Retirement | older | $6.99 | 13,902 96% | 417k | $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) | Mister Morris Games |
 | I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival | $19.99 | 4,011 83% | 120k | $2.4M (exactly $2,405,397) | Mandragora | |
 | No Place Like Home | older | $19.99 | 3,784 78% | 114k | $2.3M (exactly $2,269,265) | Chicken Launcher |
 | Survival Log | $10.99 | 2,709 82% | 81k | $893k (exactly $893,157) | Midnight Workshop | |
 | Rise of Gun | older | $12.99 | 1,094 84% | 33k | $426k (exactly $426,332) | PimpGameStudio |
 | Cook Serve Forever | $29.99 | 333 69% | 10k | $300k (exactly $299,600) | Vertigo Gaming Inc. | |
 | Nested Lands | · EA | $14.99 | 482 73% | 14k | $217k (exactly $216,755) | 1M Bits Horde |
 | World End Diner | $16.99 | 415 93% | 12k | $212k (exactly $211,525) | Andymente | |
 | Apocalypse with Femboy | $12.99 | 439 89% | 13k | $171k (exactly $171,078) | Pout Honey | |
 | Wasteland Bites | $9.99 | 440 93% | 13k | $132k (exactly $131,868) | CosmicDev | |
 | City 20 | · EA | $19.99 | 197 72% | 5.9k | $118k (exactly $118,141) | Untold Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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