Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Mechs
Should I ship a Mech Sandbox?
Sandbox + Mechs
Only 14 developers shipped a Mech Sandbox 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, NITRO GEN OMEGA, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $350k, ×570 the market median. Revenue is up 940% on the market; 28 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,196) |
| Top 25% | $48k (exactly $47,952) |
| Top 5% | $358k (exactly $358,081) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 940% on the market, supply 175% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Character Customization, Crafting
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 2,482 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.2k. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Generation Zero® 2019 · $22M 
Supreme Commander 2 2010 · $3.3M 
Lightyear Frontier 2024 · EA · $3.2M 
CryoFall 2021 · $2.9M 
UNDERDOGS 2024 · $2.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Generation Zero® | older | $24.99 | 29,115 75% | 873k | $22M (exactly $21,827,516) | Systemic Reaction™ |
| | Supreme Commander 2 | older | $12.99 | 8,349 87% | 250k | $3.3M (exactly $3,253,605) | Gas Powered Games |
| | Lightyear Frontier | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,257 83% | 128k | $3.2M (exactly $3,191,473) | FRAME BREAK |
| | CryoFall | older | $19.99 | 4,905 78% | 147k | $2.9M (exactly $2,941,528) | AtomicTorch Studio |
| | UNDERDOGS | older | $29.99 | 2,788 97% | 84k | $2.5M (exactly $2,508,364) | One Hamsa |
 | Grey Goo | older | $29.99 | 2,602 69% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,341,019) | Petroglyph, Six Foot |
 | Rusted Warfare - RTS | older | $4.99 | 6,619 96% | 199k | $991k (exactly $990,864) | Corroding Games |
 | Last Call BBS | older | $19.99 | 1,220 94% | 37k | $732k (exactly $731,634) | Zachtronics |
 | Model Builder: Complete Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,058 74% | 32k | $634k (exactly $634,483) | Moonlit S.A. |
 | Executive Assault | older | $12.99 | 1,267 84% | 38k | $494k (exactly $493,750) | Hesketh Studios Ltd |
 | NITRO GEN OMEGA | $29.99 | 398 83% | 12k | $358k (exactly $358,081) | DESTINYbit | |
 | LIFE EFFECT Survival | · EA | $14.99 | 488 85% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,454) | LIFE EFFECT |
 | Super Mining Mechs | $4.99 | 841 86% | 25k | $126k (exactly $125,898) | Delayed Victory | |
 | Mining Merchant | $6.99 | 410 88% | 12k | $86k (exactly $85,977) | Delayed Victory | |
 | Age Of Warbots | $9.99 | 160 83% | 4.8k | $48k (exactly $47,952) | VDimension | |
 | Animalkind | · EA | $19.99 | 68 91% | 2.0k | $41k (exactly $40,780) | Uncommon Games |
 | Electrogical | $7.99 | 87 93% | 2.6k | $21k (exactly $20,854) | kinjo | |
 | Typhon: Bot vs Bot | · EA | $19.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $7.2k (exactly $7,196) | Brightshade Games |
 | Wings of Aviora | · EA | $24.99 | 8 87% | 240 | $6.0k (exactly $5,998) | Stormy XP |
 | Citadel Anew | $11.99 | 10 50% | 300 | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) | Radical Byte |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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