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Should I ship a Physics Mining game?
Physics + Mining
Of 52 developers who shipped a Physics 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.. 95 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
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 $1.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.9M, ×3101 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 95 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,196) |
| Top 25% | $53k (exactly $52,767) |
| Top 5% | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 52 |
| Released games | 90 |
| Announced | 95 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 25% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Physics, Mining; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Sandbox
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 35,565 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.3k. 6 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + PinballFair
- + World War IIFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + GolfFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CatsFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + BilliardsFair
Comparable games
Stationeers 2017 · EA · $9.0M 
Space Engineers 2 2025 · EA · $4.6M 
Hidden Deep 2022 · EA · $3.2M 
Out of Ore 2022 · $3.0M 
A Game About Digging A Hole™ 2025 · $2.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stationeers | · EA older | $34.99 | 8,597 88% | 258k | $9.0M (exactly $9,024,271) | RocketWerkz |
| | Space Engineers 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 5,095 74% | 153k | $4.6M (exactly $4,583,972) | Keen Software House |
| | Hidden Deep | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,293 76% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,218,462) | Cogwheel Software |
| | Out of Ore | older | $24.99 | 3,978 85% | 119k | $3.0M (exactly $2,982,307) | North Modding Company AB |
| | A Game About Digging A Hole™ | $4.99 | 18,785 89% | 564k | $2.8M (exactly $2,812,114) | DoubleBee | |
 | MineMogul | · EA | $14.99 | 4,330 96% | 130k | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) | NoodleForge (Gvarados & Diomonder) |
 | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
 | Solar Expanse - Space Exploration Manager | · EA | $17.99 | 1,252 87% | 38k | $676k (exactly $675,704) | SpaceOps |
 | Astronomics | · EA | $19.99 | 706 89% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Numizmatic |
 | Meltopia | $6.99 | 1,679 85% | 50k | $352k (exactly $352,086) | Garden of Dreams | |
 | My Little Blacksmith Shop | $9.99 | 1,111 69% | 33k | $333k (exactly $332,967) | Dasius, Noble Games Studio | |
 | Smash Hit Museum | $6.99 | 507 85% | 15k | $106k (exactly $106,318) | InIt Games | |
 | Goblin Company | $9.99 | 282 81% | 8.5k | $85k (exactly $84,515) | BitBorne Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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