Games › Minigames › Minigames + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Minigames game?
Minigames + Sci-fi
Only 12 developers shipped a Sci-fi Minigames game 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, Star Wars Outlaws, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 7 developers shipped in the last year and 13 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,032) |
| Top 5% | $26M (exactly $25,759,120) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 13 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 24%, 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
- Minigames
- Price point
- $6.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 8 games average 71% positive over 15,384 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Minigames with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + Life SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + SandboxFair
- + RomanceFair
- + ManagementFair
- + ExplorationFair
- + Action-AdventureFair
- + Character CustomizationFair
- + HorrorFair
- + MagicFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Among Us | older | $4.99 | 659,003 92% | 20M | $99M (exactly $98,652,749) | Innersloth |
| | Star Wars Outlaws | $69.99 | 12,268 71% | 368k | $26M (exactly $25,759,120) | Massive Entertainment – A Ubisoft Studio | |
| | Among Us 3D | $9.99 | 3,056 72% | 92k | $916k (exactly $915,883) | Schell Games, Innersloth | |
| | Among Us 3D: VR | older | $9.99 | 2,449 75% | 73k | $734k (exactly $733,965) | Schell Games, Innersloth, Robot Teddy |
| | McPixel 3 | older | $9.99 | 1,199 96% | 36k | $359k (exactly $359,340) | Sos Sosowski |
| | Filament | older | $16.99 | 623 86% | 19k | $318k (exactly $317,543) | Beard Envy |
| | Stranded in Space | · EA older | $14.99 | 373 80% | 11k | $168k (exactly $167,738) | Wildman |
| | Rover Mechanic Simulator | older | $11.99 | 376 82% | 11k | $135k (exactly $135,247) | ▲ Pyramid Games |
| | To Trust an Incubus | older | $19.99 | 152 84% | 4.6k | $91k (exactly $91,154) | Y Press Games |
| | Among Waifus 18+ | older | $6.99 | 241 58% | 7.2k | $51k (exactly $50,538) | Romantic Room |
| | Bittersweet Birthday | $17.99 | 26 92% | 780 | $14k (exactly $14,032) | World Eater Games | |
| | Solvimus | $19.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $6.6k (exactly $6,597) | Iocus GmbH | |
| | Project Mnemosyne | · EA | $6.50 | 18 55% | 540 | $3.5k (exactly $3,510) | Fint |
| | Odania Sports Arena | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Odania GmbH | |
| | The Control Group | $4.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | The Control Group, pl4netary | |
| | Quodan: Treachery on the Arheid | $2.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $179 (exactly $179) | AnonymousTurtle Games | |
| | Terminal | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Clueless Dev | |
| | Super Dragon Ninja | $2.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Sean Guidry |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.