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Should I ship a Party Game Sandbox?
Sandbox + Party Game
Of 33 developers who shipped a Party Game Sandbox 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.. 91 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $510, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $40k, ×65 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 91 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $510 (exactly $510) |
| Top 25% | $4.7k (exactly $4,719) |
| Top 5% | $41k (exactly $40,553) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 50 |
| Announced | 91 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 70% on the market, supply 270% 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.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Party Game
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Party Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Character Customization, Co-op, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 5,484 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Super Bunny Man | older | $14.99 | 10,143 85% | 304k | $4.6M (exactly $4,561,307) | Catobyte |
| | Ale & Tale Tavern | older | $14.99 | 8,692 88% | 261k | $3.9M (exactly $3,908,792) | Scienart Games |
| | Kill It With Fire | older | $12.99 | 4,036 95% | 121k | $1.6M (exactly $1,572,829) | Casey Donnellan Games LLC |
| | IRMÃO Grande & Brasileiro 2 | older | $19.99 | 1,392 97% | 42k | $835k (exactly $834,782) | Virgula Leal |
| | Guilty as Sock! | $5.50 | 4,836 89% | 145k | $798k (exactly $797,940) | Demon Max | |
| | Football Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 896 79% | 27k | $537k (exactly $537,331) | Refactor Games |
| | A Gummy's Life | older | $19.99 | 194 81% | 5.8k | $116k (exactly $116,342) | EP Games® |
| | Baking Bad | · EA | $10.99 | 123 32% | 3.7k | $41k (exactly $40,553) | FunkyArmor |
| | Jumping Jazz Cats | $8.99 | 148 74% | 4.4k | $40k (exactly $39,916) | Le Catnip Collective | |
| | Scribble Bots | $6.99 | 116 87% | 3.5k | $24k (exactly $24,325) | Mr Mango Games | |
| | Sitting Ducks | $7.99 | 75 86% | 2.3k | $18k (exactly $17,978) | The Gang Studio | |
| | OK Boomer | · EA | $7.99 | 70 77% | 2.1k | $17k (exactly $16,779) | Pugsy Studios |
| | Wreck Runners | $9.99 | 41 73% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $12,288) | Disruptive Games | |
| | All On Board! | $9.99 | 25 68% | 750 | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) | The Game Kitchen | |
| | Crazy Hotel Together | $7.49 | 21 76% | 630 | $4.7k (exactly $4,719) | Prismatic Games | |
| | Barbecue | $4.95 | 29 68% | 870 | $4.3k (exactly $4,306) | WMB |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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