Games › Mining › Mining + Tower Defense
Should I ship a Mining Tower Defense?
Mining + Tower Defense
Of 33 developers who shipped a Mining Tower Defense 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.. 45 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×13 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Revenue is up 520% on the market; 45 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $35,251) |
| Top 5% | $629k (exactly $629,115) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 65 |
| Announced | 45 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 520% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Mining, Tower Defense; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 6,261 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Mining with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + TradingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + EconomyFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + NatureFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Point & ClickFair
Comparable games
Wall World 2023 · $2.4M 
FortressCraft Evolved! 2015 · $1.0M 
The Spotter: Dig or Die 2026 · $698k 
Lumencraft 2023 · $651k 
Wall World 2 2025 · $629k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Wall World | older | $6.99 | 11,353 90% | 341k | $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) | Alawar |
| | FortressCraft Evolved! | older | $12.99 | 2,653 72% | 80k | $1.0M (exactly $1,033,874) | ProjectorGames |
| | 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 |
| | Wall World 2 | $11.99 | 1,749 73% | 52k | $629k (exactly $629,115) | Alawar | |
 | Epic Auto Towers | · EA | $14.99 | 768 70% | 23k | $345k (exactly $345,370) | Aleksandr Golovkin |
 | IDUN - Frontline Survival | $14.99 | 685 77% | 21k | $308k (exactly $308,044) | IDUN Interactive | |
 | Ark of Charon | $24.99 | 389 75% | 12k | $292k (exactly $291,633) | Angoo Inc., SUNSOFT | |
 | Dwarfs!? | older | $9.99 | 644 79% | 19k | $193k (exactly $193,007) | Power of 2 |
 | Hold The Mine | · EA | $14.99 | 338 83% | 10k | $152k (exactly $151,999) | Hookaria Games |
 | ITER-8 | $12.99 | 161 70% | 4.8k | $63k (exactly $62,742) | fluckyMachine | |
 | PROFITS 2167: Planetary Resource Optimization & Freight Infrastructure Technician Simulator | · EA | $6.99 | 209 98% | 6.3k | $44k (exactly $43,827) | Simple Software Solutions |
 | Signal Zone | $11.99 | 98 76% | 2.9k | $35k (exactly $35,251) | Norafox Studio | |
 | Gem Miner TD | $12.99 | 72 97% | 2.2k | $28k (exactly $28,058) | iFeral Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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