Do I ship it?

GamesMatch 3Match 3 + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space Match 3?

Match 3 + Space

Only 9 developers shipped a Space Match 3 in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Project: Stellar Girls, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced, ×6.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $150 against a market of $630. 18 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 18 announced, ×6.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Match 3 + Space
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $119 → $180
Outcomes for Match 3 + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $535 (exactly $535)
Top 5% $4.8k (exactly $4,790)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 36
Announced 18
Effort 5 / 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 70% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Match 3
effort 2 / 10 · high · grid matching rules and cascades
Space
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Match 3
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $4.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,841 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $150, 1 in 4 over $530, 1 in 20 over $4.7k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Match 3 with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Interactive FictionFair12 devs · median $4.8k · 7 announced
  2. + RomanceFair25 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced
  3. + LGBTQ+Fair13 devs · median $1.2k · 3 announced
  4. + DemonsFair9 devs · median $779 · 4 announced
  5. + Time ManagementFair12 devs · median $748 · 7 announced
  6. + ShooterFair15 devs · median $719 · 5 announced
  7. + MagicFair35 devs · median $718 · 36 announced
  8. + Tower DefenseFair9 devs · median $599 · 9 announced
  9. + Dark FantasyFair14 devs · median $539 · 16 announced
  10. + PvPLong shot21 devs · median $505 · 29 announced
  11. + CombatLong shot13 devs · median $359 · 16 announced
  12. + DogsLong shot12 devs · median $90 · 4 announced

All 75 pairs on the Match 3 page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Intergalactic Bubbles older $1.99 1,019 79% 31k $61k (exactly $60,834) Hellscape Games
Super Star Path older $4.99 340 82% 10k $51k (exactly $50,898) DYA Games
SEX Tentacles [18+] older $3.99 181 57% 5.4k $22k (exactly $21,666) Romantic Room
Orbox C older $4.99 76 93% 2.3k $11k (exactly $11,377) wins_84, gamebalance
MILF HUNTER older $1.99 105 91% 3.2k $6.3k (exactly $6,268) Milk Poison
Project: Stellar Girls $4.99 32 46% 960 $4.8k (exactly $4,790) 430Games
Claws & Feathers 3 older $7.99 16 93% 480 $3.8k (exactly $3,835) Adept Studios GD
STEIIARIA older $4.99 24 70% 720 $3.6k (exactly $3,593) YolkinS
1-Bit Revival: The Residuals of Null older $3.99 25 88% 750 $3.0k (exactly $2,992) Alex Hanson-White
Burger Patrol older $2.99 23 91% 690 $2.1k (exactly $2,063) Vagabond Dog
Arcadia: Cloudbound $7.99 3 66% 90 $719 (exactly $719) Paper Plane Studio
Gyre $0.99 18 100% 540 $535 (exactly $535) Klaxix
Junk-o-Tron $5.99 1 100% 30 $180 (exactly $180) Kobold's Keep Games
Nebulae’s Memory $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) lughandpiv
Cat 3 $2.99 1 100% 30 $90 (exactly $90) adoptedmouse
Be touch-and-go $1.99 1 0% 30 $60 (exactly $60) FuQianDeBiFang
FISTAGON $10.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Virtual Dawn
Guard Roulette $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) ongmaker熔核工作室

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.