Do I ship it?

GamesMiningMining + Nature

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Nature Mining game?

Mining + Nature

Of 42 developers who shipped a Nature Mining 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.. 49 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×5.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $900. Revenue is up 620% on the market; 49 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 620% on the market, 49 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Mining + Nature
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 42
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $33k → $2.2k → $14k → $1.2k → $1.6k → $2.7k (still earning) → $8.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Mining + Nature: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 42
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $14,382)
Top 5% $379k (exactly $379,348)
Developers, 2 yr 42
Released games 79
Announced 49
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 up 620% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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.

Mining
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Nature
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Mining; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Resource Management, Building
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Relaxing, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 10,955 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $370k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FarmingStrong odds18 devs · median $22k · 15 announced
  2. + TradingFair32 devs · median $12k · 33 announced
  3. + DwarvesFair17 devs · median $9.6k · 26 announced
  4. + Tower DefenseFair33 devs · median $6.3k · 45 announced
  5. + EconomyFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  6. + AutomationFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  7. + Turn-Based StrategyFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair141 devs · median $3.9k · 207 announced
  9. + IdlerFair136 devs · median $2.3k · 185 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair91 devs · median $2.2k · 125 announced
  11. + CollectathonFair63 devs · median $2.1k · 53 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair36 devs · median $1.9k · 39 announced

All 91 pairs on the Mining page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ICARUS older $34.99 55,849 75% 1.7M $59M (exactly $58,624,695) RocketWerkz
MineMogul · EA $14.99 4,330 96% 130k $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) NoodleForge (Gvarados & Diomonder)
Cattails | Become a Cat! older $14.99 2,315 95% 69k $1.0M (exactly $1,041,056) Falcon Development
cyubeVR · EA older $29.99 1,066 90% 32k $959k (exactly $959,080) Stonebrick Studios
Cattails: Wildwood Story older $19.99 1,479 97% 44k $887k (exactly $886,956) Falcon Development
Coal LLC $14.99 1,343 92% 40k $604k (exactly $603,947) Bye Bye Ocean
Dinosaur Fossil Hunter older $19.99 820 77% 25k $492k (exactly $491,754) ▲ Pyramid Games
Industry Giant 4.0 $24.99 506 33% 15k $379k (exactly $379,348) Don VS Dodo
Click Mage $4.99 2,529 91% 76k $379k (exactly $378,591) Tiny Crow Games
Sludgineers $6.99 1,579 87% 47k $331k (exactly $331,116) Snickerdoodle Games, Funk Games
Dig Island · EA $14.99 282 86% 8.5k $127k (exactly $126,815) FiftyEight Studios
Utopia Colony $16.99 99 63% 3.0k $50k (exactly $50,460) GridSky Studios
Cavern Adventurers $8.99 117 48% 3.5k $32k (exactly $31,555) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Firefly Village $8.99 112 86% 3.4k $30k (exactly $30,206) Josh Koenig Games
Cropia $14.99 58 87% 1.7k $26k (exactly $26,083) Cropstone Studio

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