Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Space Sim?
Space Sim + Puzzle
Of 27 developers who shipped a Puzzle Space Sim 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.. 34 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 $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $740k, ×1188 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 34 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) |
| Top 5% | $746k (exactly $745,952) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 94 |
| Announced | 34 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 25% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Space Sim, Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Logic
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 4,715 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. All of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Space Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DestructionFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + WarFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + SportsFair
- + DiplomacyLong shot
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Strategy RPGPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Hardspace: Shipbreaker 2022 · $20M 
Deliver Us The Moon 2019 · $5.6M 
Mars First Logistics 2025 · $2.1M 
Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor 2020 · $1.1M 
Approximately Up 2026 · $746k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hardspace: Shipbreaker | older | $34.99 | 19,431 89% | 583k | $20M (exactly $20,396,721) | Blackbird Interactive |
| | Deliver Us The Moon | older | $24.99 | 7,510 87% | 225k | $5.6M (exactly $5,630,247) | KeokeN Interactive |
| | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
| | Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor | older | $19.99 | 1,758 78% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,054,273) | Stray Fawn Studio |
| | Approximately Up | $24.99 | 995 93% | 30k | $746k (exactly $745,952) | Approximately Games | |
 | Osmos | older | $9.99 | 691 86% | 21k | $207k (exactly $207,093) | Hemisphere Games |
 | Rover Mechanic Simulator | older | $11.99 | 376 82% | 11k | $135k (exactly $135,247) | ▲ Pyramid Games |
 | Voyager-19 | older | $3.99 | 977 87% | 29k | $117k (exactly $116,947) | Miziziziz |
 | SPACE ACCIDENT | older | $11.99 | 292 82% | 8.8k | $105k (exactly $105,032) | Whale Rock Games |
 | Dofamine | older | $9.99 | 212 82% | 6.4k | $64k (exactly $63,536) | Whale Rock Games |
 | Quantum Void | $11.99 | 69 95% | 2.1k | $25k (exactly $24,819) | TacNours | |
 | Space Sprouts | $10.99 | 51 96% | 1.5k | $17k (exactly $16,815) | Schleuder Games | |
 | Cosmolace | $6.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $3.4k (exactly $3,355) | CCyoltose | |
 | Quantum Loop | $5.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $3.1k (exactly $3,055) | slashslash, Declan Carveth | |
 | 100 Cats Lost In Space Find & Color | $7.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) | Two Cats Games | |
 | Star Freight | $3.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $2.3k (exactly $2,274) | Error 300 | |
 | SpaceSteps | · EA | $5.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) | Net Get Games |
 | 5 Minutes Until Self-Destruction | $1.99 | 28 96% | 840 | $1.7k (exactly $1,672) | Part Time Monkey |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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