Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Minigames
Should I ship a Minigames Sandbox?
Sandbox + Minigames
Only 9 developers shipped a Minigames 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, Gunsmith Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $17k, ×27 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $5.1k. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 12 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) |
|---|---|
| Median | $17k (exactly $16,796) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $57,676) |
| Top 5% | $2.4M (exactly $2,372,800) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 12 |
| 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 25% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, 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, Minigames
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
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 $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 45,698 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.1k. 12 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 | older | $24.99 | 36,950 95% | 1.1M | $28M (exactly $27,701,415) | Red Dot Games |
| | Gunsmith Simulator | $24.99 | 3,165 84% | 95k | $2.4M (exactly $2,372,800) | GameHunters | |
| | Sledding Game | · EA | $7.99 | 2,915 96% | 87k | $699k (exactly $698,726) | The Sledding Corporation |
| | American Theft 80s | older | $19.99 | 1,029 73% | 31k | $617k (exactly $617,091) | Noble Muffins |
| | Filament | older | $16.99 | 623 86% | 19k | $318k (exactly $317,543) | Beard Envy |
| | Creature Crafter | older | $7.99 | 745 86% | 22k | $179k (exactly $178,576) | Daniel Lochner |
| | Seclusa | $12.99 | 148 97% | 4.4k | $58k (exactly $57,676) | Studio Niente | |
| | Garage Flipper | $14.99 | 54 37% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $24,284) | Farmind Studio | |
| | PAW Patrol™: Dino World | $39.99 | 14 64% | 420 | $17k (exactly $16,796) | 3DClouds | |
| | Garden Ink | $9.50 | 55 100% | 1.7k | $16k (exactly $15,675) | Kranich | |
| | Smol Kobold Garden | · EA | $9.99 | 17 58% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | uwusoft |
| | dofbox | $4.99 | 30 100% | 900 | $4.5k (exactly $4,491) | dofhouse | |
| | cozy cult | $0.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $148 (exactly $148) | Just Will Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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