Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Point & Click
Should I ship a Point & Click Sandbox?
Sandbox + Point & Click
Of 108 developers who shipped a Point & Click 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.. 135 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $460k, ×740 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 135 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $718 (exactly $718) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,187) |
| Top 5% | $465k (exactly $464,990) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 108 |
| Released games | 271 |
| Announced | 135 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Point & Click
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Point & Click; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 14,857 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 54 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 135 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator 2022 · $23M 
Game Dev Tycoon 2013 · $12M 
Little Inferno 2012 · $4.1M 
Storyteller 2023 · $3.7M 
EmergeNYC 2016 · EA · $2.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 37,870 92% | 1.1M | $23M (exactly $22,710,639) | niceplay games |
| | Game Dev Tycoon | older | $9.99 | 40,312 95% | 1.2M | $12M (exactly $12,081,506) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
| | Little Inferno | older | $14.99 | 9,131 96% | 274k | $4.1M (exactly $4,106,211) | Tomorrow Corporation |
| | Storyteller | older | $14.99 | 8,169 88% | 245k | $3.7M (exactly $3,673,599) | Daniel Benmergui |
| | EmergeNYC | · EA older | $24.99 | 3,760 64% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) | FlipSwitch Games |
 | Card Survival: Tropical Island | older | $24.99 | 2,962 94% | 89k | $2.2M (exactly $2,220,611) | WinterSpring Games |
 | Sticky Business | older | $9.99 | 6,001 95% | 180k | $1.8M (exactly $1,798,500) | Spellgarden Games |
 | BitCraft Online | · EA | $15.99 | 3,334 72% | 100k | $1.6M (exactly $1,599,320) | Clockwork Laboratories, Inc. |
 | Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist | older | $24.99 | 1,234 95% | 37k | $925k (exactly $925,130) | Flamebait Games |
 | The Censor DX Edition | $17.99 | 1,467 82% | 44k | $792k (exactly $791,740) | Tiramisu, Big S Studio | |
 | Approximately Up | $24.99 | 995 93% | 30k | $746k (exactly $745,952) | Approximately Games | |
 | Ship, Inc. | $9.99 | 2,168 83% | 65k | $650k (exactly $649,750) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Maltese's Fluffy Onsen | $5.99 | 2,727 94% | 82k | $490k (exactly $490,042) | Sinkhole Studio, Moonlab Studio | |
 | Birdwatching Notebook | $9.99 | 1,588 97% | 48k | $476k (exactly $475,924) | Biekka Games | |
 | The Executive - Movie Industry Tycoon | $14.99 | 1,034 80% | 31k | $465k (exactly $464,990) | Aniki Games | |
 | Midnight Sin | $19.99 | 387 82% | 12k | $232k (exactly $232,084) | Faerin Games | |
 | NTRaholic SS | $14.99 | 508 62% | 15k | $228k (exactly $228,448) | Tiramisu, Big S Studio | |
 | Cozy Organizer | $7.99 | 649 67% | 19k | $156k (exactly $155,565) | Rogue Duck Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.