Do I ship it?

Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Solitaire Puzzle game?

Puzzle + Solitaire

Of 126 developers who shipped a Solitaire Puzzle 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.. 89 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $120 for a 2 / 10 build. 74 developers shipped in the last year and 89 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 89 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Puzzle + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 126
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $898 → $748 → $899 → $449 → $479 → $120 (still earning) → $119 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Puzzle + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 126
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 5% $18k (exactly $17,538)
Developers, 2 yr 126
Released games 648
Announced 89
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Puzzle, Solitaire; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Logic, Strategy
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 37% positive over 24,137 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $180, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $17k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 80 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 89 games are announced against 74 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Puzzle with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorFair57 devs · median $8.2k · 53 announced
  2. + Medical SimFair17 devs · median $6.1k · 27 announced
  3. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair40 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair161 devs · median $1.8k · 150 announced
  5. + VampiresFair46 devs · median $1.7k · 37 announced
  6. + CatsFair281 devs · median $1.2k · 334 announced
  7. + DemonsFair233 devs · median $1.2k · 248 announced
  8. + God GameFair27 devs · median $1.2k · 30 announced
  9. + RomanceFair209 devs · median $1.0k · 251 announced
  10. + AutomationFair135 devs · median $1.0k · 164 announced
  11. + Tower DefenseFair64 devs · median $1.0k · 67 announced
  12. + LemmingsFair13 devs · median $959 · 11 announced

All 246 pairs on the Puzzle page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Root 2020 · $2.3M BidKing 2026 · $2.0M SHENZHEN I/O 2016 · $1.7M Last Call BBS 2022 · $732k Faerie Solitaire 2010 · $612k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Root older $14.99 5,049 90% 151k $2.3M (exactly $2,270,535) Dire Wolf
BidKing $2.99 22,238 33% 667k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) MindSurge Network & Games
SHENZHEN I/O older $14.99 3,746 95% 112k $1.7M (exactly $1,684,576) Zachtronics
Last Call BBS older $19.99 1,220 94% 37k $732k (exactly $731,634) Zachtronics
Faerie Solitaire older $14.99 1,361 89% 41k $612k (exactly $612,042) Subsoap
Kaizen: A Factory Story $19.99 694 91% 21k $416k (exactly $416,192) Coincidence
YEAH! YOU WANT "THOSE GAMES," RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LET'S SEE YOU CLEAR THEM! older $9.99 1,268 71% 38k $380k (exactly $380,020) MONKEYCRAFT Co. Ltd.
Shadowhand: RPG Card Game older $16.99 668 82% 20k $340k (exactly $340,480) Grey Alien Games
The Zachtronics Solitaire Collection older $9.99 939 98% 28k $281k (exactly $281,418) Zachtronics
The Solitaire Conspiracy older $11.99 742 89% 22k $267k (exactly $266,897) Bithell Games
U.V.S. Nirmana $14.99 213 88% 6.4k $96k (exactly $95,786) Coincidence
Occlude $7.99 348 86% 10k $83k (exactly $83,416) Tributary Games
A Solitaire Mystery $9.99 278 91% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Hempuli Oy
Rainbow Legends $12.99 90 74% 2.7k $35k (exactly $35,073) Unpixel Cloud Cedar Studio
Shadowhand Solitaire $13.99 64 90% 1.9k $27k (exactly $26,861) Grey Alien Games
Dark Atlas: Infernum $14.99 39 82% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,538) Night Council Studio
Cozy Solitaire $3.99 135 84% 4.1k $16k (exactly $16,160) CozyPuzzleGames
Jewel Match Solitaire Fantasy - Collector's Edition $13.99 38 92% 1.1k $16k (exactly $15,949) Suricate Software

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.