Games › Simulation › Simulation + Precision Platformer
Should I ship a Precision Platformer Simulation game?
Simulation + Precision Platformer
Of 122 developers who shipped a Precision Platformer Simulation 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.. 80 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $24k, ×39 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 80 games are announced against 73 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $117 (exactly $117) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 5% | $25k (exactly $24,551) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 122 |
| Released games | 268 |
| Announced | 80 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 down 40% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Precision Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Precision Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Platformer, 3D Platformer, Physics
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 1,727 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 59 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 73 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Heavenly Bodies 2021 · $2.2M 
I Am Fish 2021 · $1.7M 
Climber Animals: Together 2024 · $720k 
Only Climb: Better Together 2023 · $440k 
Egging On 2025 · $336k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Heavenly Bodies | older | $19.99 | 3,741 95% | 112k | $2.2M (exactly $2,243,478) | 2pt Interactive |
| | I Am Fish | older | $19.99 | 2,917 75% | 88k | $1.7M (exactly $1,749,325) | Bossa Studios |
| | Climber Animals: Together | older | $3.99 | 6,014 73% | 180k | $720k (exactly $719,876) | Devotion Interactive |
| | Only Climb: Better Together | older | $4.99 | 2,939 54% | 88k | $440k (exactly $439,968) | Exbyte Studios |
| | Egging On | $14.99 | 747 74% | 22k | $336k (exactly $335,926) | Egobounds | |
 | JellyCar Worlds | older | $7.99 | 1,008 96% | 30k | $242k (exactly $241,618) | Walaber Entertainment LLC |
 | Best Forklift Operator | older | $19.99 | 224 75% | 6.7k | $134k (exactly $134,333) | Simmersiv |
 | Tools Up! Ultimate Edition | older | $34.99 | 111 76% | 3.3k | $117k (exactly $116,517) | The Knights of Unity |
 | Time Loader | older | $7.99 | 387 83% | 12k | $93k (exactly $92,764) | Flazm |
 | Switchball HD | older | $12.99 | 145 88% | 4.4k | $57k (exactly $56,506) | Atomic Elbow |
 | Only Way is Down | $9.99 | 137 63% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,059) | Jilted Generation Productions | |
 | Catch Me | $5.99 | 178 70% | 5.3k | $32k (exactly $31,987) | Doorway Games | |
 | An Eggstremely Hard Game | $4.99 | 196 84% | 5.9k | $29k (exactly $29,341) | BBear Studio | |
 | Train Plus Japan Drive Western Japan Trains! Rapid Service Edition | $64.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $27k (exactly $27,296) | SHINISE GAMES, MFC STUDIO | |
 | Oeuf | $9.99 | 90 94% | 2.7k | $27k (exactly $26,973) | increpare games | |
 | Dangerous Mountain Together | $4.99 | 164 73% | 4.9k | $25k (exactly $24,551) | Çağatay Demir, Doğukan Şahin | |
 | Treasure Hunters: Raid Together | $9.99 | 58 84% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | Biax | |
 | Skullbreaker | $29.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $12k (exactly $11,696) | Sharkgame | |
 | a weird game about sausage | $2.99 | 130 90% | 3.9k | $12k (exactly $11,661) | Madman's Cheese |
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.