Do I ship it?

GamesMiningMining + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mining Time Management game?

Mining + Time Management

Of 37 developers who shipped a Mining Time Management 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.. 50 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×13 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×891 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 50 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 12.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 50 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Mining + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $90 → $6.3k → $2.7k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Mining + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $538 (exactly $538)
Median $6.0k (exactly $5,994)
Top 25% $104k (exactly $104,162)
Top 5% $423k (exactly $423,388)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 64
Announced 50
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 100% on the market, supply 220% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 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, Time Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Exploration, Simulation
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 7,212 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $6.0k, 1 in 4 over $100k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 4 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 29 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
Turmoil older $12.99 13,154 92% 395k $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) Gamious
Coal LLC $14.99 1,343 92% 40k $604k (exactly $603,947) Bye Bye Ocean
Astronomics · EA $19.99 706 89% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Numizmatic
Gemporium: A Cute Mining Sim $9.99 1,153 93% 35k $346k (exactly $345,554) Merge Conflict Studio
Ark of Charon $24.99 389 75% 12k $292k (exactly $291,633) Angoo Inc., SUNSOFT
Medieval Crafter: Blacksmith $11.99 745 76% 22k $268k (exactly $267,976) Compact Core Games
Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival $9.99 826 77% 25k $248k (exactly $247,552) RetroStyle Games
Eventide Matter $5.99 927 95% 28k $167k (exactly $166,582) Ottropi Games
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
Deep Corp · EA $11.99 365 89% 11k $131k (exactly $131,290) KishMish Games
Medieval Horse Dealer Simulator $17.99 193 89% 5.8k $104k (exactly $104,162) One Slice of Pizza Games

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