Games › Mining › Mining + Post-apocalyptic
Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Mining game?
Mining + Post-apocalyptic
Of 21 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 32 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×394 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 32 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,774) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $35,251) |
| Top 5% | $248k (exactly $247,552) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 49 |
| Announced | 32 |
| 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 up 15% on the market, supply 35% 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.
- Mining
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Post-apocalyptic
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Mining; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Base Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 3,737 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Mining with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + TradingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + EconomyFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + NatureFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
My Time at Portia 2019 · $31M 
My Time at Sandrock 2023 · $29M 
Aground 2020 · $820k 
The Spotter: Dig or Die 2026 · $698k 
Lumencraft 2023 · $651k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | My Time at Portia | older | $29.99 | 34,844 91% | 1.0M | $31M (exactly $31,349,147) | Pathea Games |
| | My Time at Sandrock | older | $39.99 | 24,110 88% | 723k | $29M (exactly $28,924,767) | Pathea Games |
| | Aground | older | $14.99 | 1,823 94% | 55k | $820k (exactly $819,803) | Fancy Fish Games, SnöBox Studio |
| | The Spotter: Dig or Die | $12.99 | 1,792 84% | 54k | $698k (exactly $698,342) | Puppyroar Games | |
| | Lumencraft | older | $19.99 | 1,086 75% | 33k | $651k (exactly $651,274) | 2Dynamic Games |
 | Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival | $9.99 | 826 77% | 25k | $248k (exactly $247,552) | RetroStyle Games | |
 | Nuclear Epoch | $14.99 | 487 78% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,004) | Cat Play Studio | |
 | Exoplanet: First Contact | · EA older | $19.99 | 230 73% | 6.9k | $138k (exactly $137,931) | Alersteam |
 | Anoxia Station | $14.99 | 179 76% | 5.4k | $80k (exactly $80,496) | Bonereaders | |
 | BARRICADEZ | older | $18.99 | 117 78% | 3.5k | $67k (exactly $66,655) | Fly Penguin inc. |
 | Utopia Colony | $16.99 | 99 63% | 3.0k | $50k (exactly $50,460) | GridSky Studios | |
 | Signal Zone | $11.99 | 98 76% | 2.9k | $35k (exactly $35,251) | Norafox Studio | |
 | Ice World | $9.99 | 111 57% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $33,267) | CoolRabbit Games | |
 | Robert on Earth | $7.99 | 93 83% | 2.8k | $22k (exactly $22,292) | Remrofsnart | |
 | Dead Oil | $4.99 | 42 85% | 1.3k | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) | Moonshine Muffin | |
 | Sustained | · EA | $19.99 | 10 50% | 300 | $6.0k (exactly $5,997) | Iconic Studios |
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.