Do I ship it?

Games › Mining › Mining + Procedural Generation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mining Procedural Generation game?

Mining + Procedural Generation

Of 90 developers who shipped a Mining Procedural Generation 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.. 194 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.5k, ×7.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $600k, ×1271 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 194 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.4 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 194 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Mining + Procedural Generation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 90
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $719 → $22k → $90k → $21k → $2.7k → $6.3k → $2.0k (still earning) → $3.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Mining + Procedural Generation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 90
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $3.5k (exactly $3,506)
Top 25% $38k (exactly $38,376)
Top 5% $604k (exactly $603,947)
Developers, 2 yr 90
Released games 193
Announced 194
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 flat on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Procedural Generation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Crafting, Adventure
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 30,473 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 $3.5k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $600k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 194 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

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

UnderMine 2020 · $5.6M A Game About Digging A Hole™ 2025 · $2.8M Star Valor 2022 · $2.5M Rising World 2014 · EA · $2.4M Wall World 2023 · $2.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
UnderMine older $19.99 9,284 90% 279k $5.6M (exactly $5,567,615) Thorium
A Game About Digging A Hole™ $4.99 18,785 89% 564k $2.8M (exactly $2,812,114) DoubleBee
Star Valor older $24.99 3,272 88% 98k $2.5M (exactly $2,453,018) Rafael Burgos
Rising World · EA older $14.99 5,310 85% 159k $2.4M (exactly $2,387,907) JIW-Games
Wall World older $6.99 11,353 90% 341k $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) Alawar
Hammerting older $24.99 1,733 57% 52k $1.3M (exactly $1,299,230) Warpzone Studios
To The Core older $7.99 5,087 92% 153k $1.2M (exactly $1,219,354) SomethingExtra
KeeperRL older $19.99 1,677 83% 50k $1.0M (exactly $1,005,697) Electric Succubi
cyubeVR · EA older $29.99 1,066 90% 32k $959k (exactly $959,080) Stonebrick Studios
Orebound · EA $24.99 945 77% 28k $708k (exactly $708,466) Emberforge
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
Keep Digging $6.99 2,927 79% 88k $614k (exactly $613,792) Wild Dog
Coal LLC $14.99 1,343 92% 40k $604k (exactly $603,947) Bye Bye Ocean
UnderMine 2 · EA $19.99 828 75% 25k $497k (exactly $496,552) Thorium
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
IDUN - Frontline Survival $14.99 685 77% 21k $308k (exactly $308,044) IDUN Interactive
Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival $9.99 826 77% 25k $248k (exactly $247,552) RetroStyle Games

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