Games › Mining › Mining + Puzzle
Should I ship a Mining Puzzle game?
Mining + Puzzle
Of 34 developers who shipped a Mining Puzzle 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.. 51 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 $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×351 the market median. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 51 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $7.8k (exactly $7,821) |
| Top 5% | $167k (exactly $166,582) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 110 |
| Announced | 51 |
| 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 200% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Mining, Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Strategy, Crafting
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 4,840 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Mining with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + TradingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + EconomyFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + NatureFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
Hidden Deep 2022 · EA · $3.2M 
Click Mage 2025 · $379k 
Prodigal 2020 · $263k 
Eventide Matter 2025 · $167k 
Lighthouse Keeper 2022 · $121k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hidden Deep | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,293 76% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,218,462) | Cogwheel Software |
| | Click Mage | $4.99 | 2,529 91% | 76k | $379k (exactly $378,591) | Tiny Crow Games | |
| | Prodigal | older | $14.99 | 584 91% | 18k | $263k (exactly $262,625) | Colorgrave |
| | Eventide Matter | $5.99 | 927 95% | 28k | $167k (exactly $166,582) | Ottropi Games | |
| | Lighthouse Keeper | older | $11.99 | 336 81% | 10k | $121k (exactly $120,859) | Stratera Games |
 | Dungeon Digger | older | $39.99 | 98 81% | 2.9k | $118k (exactly $117,571) | Galactic Geckon |
 | Ad Fundum | older | $6.99 | 429 93% | 13k | $90k (exactly $89,961) | Oldbut Gold |
 | Anoxia Station | $14.99 | 179 76% | 5.4k | $80k (exactly $80,496) | Bonereaders | |
 | DigDigDrill | $3.99 | 607 95% | 18k | $73k (exactly $72,658) | Toorai | |
 | ITER-8 | $12.99 | 161 70% | 4.8k | $63k (exactly $62,742) | fluckyMachine | |
 | Snacktorio | $7.99 | 215 90% | 6.5k | $52k (exactly $51,536) | ellraiser | |
 | Mashina | $9.99 | 141 97% | 4.2k | $42k (exactly $42,258) | Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Tal… (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya) | |
 | BOULDER DASH 40th Anniversary | $19.99 | 31 83% | 930 | $19k (exactly $18,591) | BBG Entertainment GmbH | |
 | Star Mining Co. | $8.99 | 29 82% | 870 | $7.8k (exactly $7,821) | Barney Whiteman | |
 | Dataminers | $6.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $4.4k (exactly $4,404) | Electrocosmos |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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