Games › Programming › Programming + Science
Should I ship a Science Programming game?
Programming + Science
Of 25 developers who shipped a Science Programming 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.. 27 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.4k, ×20 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×429 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 27 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) |
| Top 25% | $53k (exactly $52,767) |
| Top 5% | $204k (exactly $204,007) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 76 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Science
- 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
- Programming; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Automation, Building
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 2,206 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 6 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Programming with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Base BuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + SimulationFair
- + RobotsFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + FuturisticFair
Comparable games
while True: learn() 2019 · $2.9M 
Juno: New Origins 2023 · $1.9M 
SpaceChem 2011 · $787k 
Main Assembly 2021 · $602k 
Homebrew - Patent Unknown 2014 · EA · $372k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | while True: learn() | older | $12.99 | 7,350 91% | 221k | $2.9M (exactly $2,864,295) | Luden.io |
| | Juno: New Origins | older | $19.99 | 3,085 89% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,850,074) | Jundroo, LLC |
| | SpaceChem | older | $9.99 | 2,626 95% | 79k | $787k (exactly $787,012) | Zachtronics |
| | Main Assembly | older | $19.99 | 1,004 83% | 30k | $602k (exactly $602,099) | Bad Yolk Games |
| | Homebrew - Patent Unknown | · EA older | $14.99 | 828 71% | 25k | $372k (exactly $372,352) | Copybugpaste |
 | Logic World | · EA older | $25.00 | 338 94% | 10k | $254k (exactly $253,500) | Mouse Hat Games |
 | Data Center | $8.99 | 916 76% | 27k | $247k (exactly $247,045) | Waseku | |
 | JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator | $17.99 | 378 76% | 11k | $204k (exactly $204,007) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | MOLEK-SYNTEZ | older | $9.99 | 522 91% | 16k | $156k (exactly $156,443) | Zachtronics |
 | Archean | · EA older | $19.99 | 241 87% | 7.2k | $145k (exactly $144,528) | batcholi, FloDKSM |
 | MegaFactory Titan | $19.99 | 150 76% | 4.5k | $90k (exactly $89,955) | Q Switched Productions, LLC | |
 | Quantum Odyssey | · EA | $17.99 | 141 92% | 4.2k | $76k (exactly $76,098) | Quarks Interactive |
 | The Bibites: Digital Life | · EA | $9.99 | 218 96% | 6.5k | $65k (exactly $65,335) | Omnia Studios |
 | Screeps: Arena | $19.99 | 105 82% | 3.2k | $63k (exactly $62,968) | Screeps, LLC | |
 | I Fetch Rocks | $15.99 | 110 94% | 3.3k | $53k (exactly $52,767) | SarumXR | |
 | Hard Chip | · EA | $14.99 | 68 91% | 2.0k | $31k (exactly $30,580) | Elorth |
 | Nuclear Design Bureau | · EA | $9.99 | 88 79% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $26,374) | Design Bureau KB-11 |
 | Mnemonimov | · EA | $19.99 | 32 100% | 960 | $19k (exactly $19,190) | Reverie Foundry |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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