Do I ship it?

GamesMiningMining + Point & Click

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mining Point & Click game?

Mining + Point & Click

Of 36 developers who shipped a Mining Point & Click 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.. 39 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×4.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 340% on the market; 39 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 340% on the market, 39 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Mining + Point & Click
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $299 → $2.0k → $2.1k (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Mining + Point & Click: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,915)
Top 25% $7.3k (exactly $7,282)
Top 5% $251k (exactly $250,801)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 60
Announced 39
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 340% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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, Point & Click; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Collectathon, Simulation, Idler
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 10,820 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $7.2k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Mining with a different second tag, 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. + NatureFair42 devs · median $2.4k · 49 announced
  10. + IdlerFair136 devs · median $2.3k · 185 announced
  11. + ArcadeFair91 devs · median $2.2k · 125 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair63 devs · median $2.1k · 53 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
Melvor Idle older $9.99 14,630 90% 439k $4.4M (exactly $4,384,611) Games by Malcs
Digseum $2.99 8,033 97% 241k $721k (exactly $720,560) Rat Monthly
Fracture Field $6.99 1,196 75% 36k $251k (exactly $250,801) Type Ten
Diggin $6.99 635 80% 19k $133k (exactly $133,160) Longshot Studio
Smash Hit Museum $6.99 507 85% 15k $106k (exactly $106,318) InIt Games
Treasure Beach $9.99 271 81% 8.1k $81k (exactly $81,219) Rogue Duck Interactive
Pet Lands $14.99 47 46% 1.4k $21k (exactly $21,136) Tbjbu2, Adria Martinez Exposito
RigidGems Museum $24.99 25 96% 750 $19k (exactly $18,742) FerioWorks
100 hidden gnomes older $0.99 269 79% 8.1k $8.0k (exactly $7,989) Anatoliy Loginovskikh, Drop_Dead_Fred
Cozy Mining $6.99 38 76% 1.1k $8.0k (exactly $7,969) tatsumaki games
Fractured Realms · EA $8.99 27 77% 810 $7.3k (exactly $7,282) Mistcloud Games
Incremental Fishing $5.49 41 97% 1.2k $6.8k (exactly $6,753) SwimDog Studio

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