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Should I ship a Minigames Simulation game?
Simulation + Minigames
Of 50 developers who shipped a Minigames Simulation game 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.. 56 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $390k, ×627 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 56 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) |
| Top 25% | $48k (exactly $47,952) |
| Top 5% | $394k (exactly $393,806) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 135 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 down 60% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Minigames
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Minigames; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Immersive Sim, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Anime, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 8,275 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.7k. 8 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 2021 · $28M 
Gunsmith Simulator 2024 · $2.4M 
Trials Evolution: Gold Edition 2013 · $1.4M 
FlatOut 2007 · $1.3M 
Shenmue III 2020 · $925k | 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 | |
| | Trials Evolution: Gold Edition | older | $19.99 | 2,253 74% | 68k | $1.4M (exactly $1,351,124) | Redlynx Ltd, Ubisoft Shanghaï |
| | FlatOut | older | $7.49 | 5,870 91% | 176k | $1.3M (exactly $1,318,989) | Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Me… (Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
| | Shenmue III | older | $29.99 | 1,028 75% | 31k | $925k (exactly $924,892) | YS NET |
 | Cauldron | $14.99 | 1,678 92% | 50k | $755k (exactly $754,597) | SleepyDad Games | |
 | American Theft 80s | older | $19.99 | 1,029 73% | 31k | $617k (exactly $617,091) | Noble Muffins |
 | Bratz™: Flaunt your fashion | older | $29.99 | 445 77% | 13k | $400k (exactly $400,366) | Petoons Studio |
 | On-Together: Virtual Co-Working | $9.99 | 1,314 93% | 39k | $394k (exactly $393,806) | GigaPuff | |
 | Coin Pusher Casino | older | $12.50 | 950 84% | 29k | $356k (exactly $356,250) | TreeNutsGames |
 | Youtubers Life 3 | $19.99 | 468 50% | 14k | $281k (exactly $280,660) | UPLAY Online | |
 | Vending Machine Co. | $14.99 | 441 85% | 13k | $198k (exactly $198,318) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Ugoku Sushi Bar | $12.99 | 316 88% | 9.5k | $123k (exactly $123,145) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Lust Sisters 🔞 | $14.99 | 215 67% | 6.5k | $97k (exactly $96,686) | Carnality INC | |
 | Two Beasts Or Not To Beast! | $24.99 | 125 99% | 3.8k | $94k (exactly $93,712) | Tokinokogiri | |
 | Happy Endings | $6.99 | 429 86% | 13k | $90k (exactly $89,961) | Late Night Studios | |
 | Mythmatch | $19.99 | 124 98% | 3.7k | $74k (exactly $74,363) | Team Artichoke |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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