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Should I ship a Tabletop Life Sim?
Life Sim + Tabletop
Of 31 developers who shipped a Tabletop 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.. 40 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 15 developers shipped in the last year and 40 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $8.2k (exactly $8,234) |
| Top 5% | $533k (exactly $532,534) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 70 |
| Announced | 40 |
| 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 50% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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, Tabletop; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Economy, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Relaxing, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 3,468 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | BOOK OF HOURS | older | $24.99 | 4,129 89% | 124k | $3.1M (exactly $3,095,511) | Weather Factory |
| | THE GAME OF LIFE 2 | older | $12.49 | 3,702 78% | 111k | $1.4M (exactly $1,387,139) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | Timeflow – Life Sim | · EA older | $14.99 | 1,379 91% | 41k | $620k (exactly $620,136) | Digital Geckos |
| | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
| | Walk of Life | $19.99 | 888 94% | 27k | $533k (exactly $532,534) | Porcelain Fortress | |
| | The Test: Final Revelation | older | $1.99 | 5,286 97% | 159k | $316k (exactly $315,574) | Randumb Studios |
| | Casino Simulator | · EA older | $9.99 | 786 81% | 24k | $236k (exactly $235,564) | Lodos Games |
| | Feed the Scorchpot | $14.99 | 371 87% | 11k | $167k (exactly $166,839) | Moravian | |
| | Exotica: Petshop Simulator | older | $7.99 | 482 81% | 14k | $116k (exactly $115,535) | Konrul Game |
| | Artist Life Simulator | older | $19.99 | 173 79% | 5.2k | $104k (exactly $103,748) | Interactive Fate |
| | Lower? Higher! | $9.99 | 146 67% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $43,756) | Unplugged Studio | |
| | Table Battle Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 85 74% | 2.6k | $33k (exactly $33,124) | Kiki Games |
| | Casino Island Simulator | · EA | $8.99 | 120 61% | 3.6k | $32k (exactly $32,364) | Clap Games |
| | Casino Simulator 2024 | $5.99 | 119 69% | 3.6k | $21k (exactly $21,384) | METAGAR | |
| | AI Faith: Compute [>_AIFC] | $4.99 | 55 81% | 1.7k | $8.2k (exactly $8,234) | Beneloop.ai | |
| | Milo's Tiny Fish Pond | $4.99 | 43 86% | 1.3k | $6.4k (exactly $6,437) | MMUnit | |
| | Ramen Simulator | $5.99 | 32 84% | 960 | $5.8k (exactly $5,750) | SECRET CHARACTER, HaconN |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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