Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Puzzle Platformer
Should I ship a Puzzle Platformer Resource Management game?
Resource Management + Puzzle Platformer
Only 19 developers shipped a Puzzle Platformer Resource Management game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Poke ALL Toads, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $89 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 11 developers shipped in the last year and 21 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $89 (exactly $89) |
| Top 25% | $597 (exactly $597) |
| Top 5% | $161k (exactly $160,786) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Puzzle Platformer
- 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
- Resource Management, Puzzle Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Strategy, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 99% positive over 568 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Resource Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + WesternFair
- + SnowFair
- + JRPGFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + HorsesFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
Comparable games
Poke ALL Toads 2026 · $161k 
Cycle of Corruption 2026 · $38k 
Residual 2021 · $14k 
Polar Penguin Post 2022 · EA · $12k 
Operation Deep Magic: Cryptanalysis 2020 · $6.0k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Poke ALL Toads | $11.99 | 447 100% | 13k | $161k (exactly $160,786) | SpaceMatra | |
| | Cycle of Corruption | $14.99 | 84 94% | 2.5k | $38k (exactly $37,775) | Kredyn | |
| | Residual | older | $19.99 | 24 66% | 720 | $14k (exactly $14,393) | Orangepixel |
| | Polar Penguin Post | · EA older | $15.99 | 25 92% | 750 | $12k (exactly $11,992) | Little Lemon Bulb |
| | Operation Deep Magic: Cryptanalysis | older | $49.99 | 4 25% | 120 | $6.0k (exactly $5,999) | 1013133 Simulations |
 | Cosmos: Stella Returns | older | $5.99 | 31 83% | 930 | $5.6k (exactly $5,571) | SEEP |
 | 12 Labours of Hercules XIV: Message in a Bottle | older | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Zoom Out Games, Jetdogs Studios |
 | Block Motion | older | $14.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $4.0k (exactly $4,047) | Daniel Willett |
 | 12 Labours of Hercules XV: Little Big Adventure | older | $11.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $3.2k (exactly $3,237) | Zoom Out Games, Jetdogs Studios |
 | Byte Hack | older | $4.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) | Rabid Troll Studios LLC |
 | Jimmy's No. 44 House | $4.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | JDHW | |
 | Time and Space Legacy | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | Maxime Schadkowski | |
 | My Rusty Submarine - New Waters | $1.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $597 (exactly $597) | Sørb | |
 | Psycho Path | $7.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $479 (exactly $479) | Twinties studio | |
 | Untravelled Planet | $5.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $359 (exactly $359) | Yaqut Games | |
 | The Baby is Here | $6.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $210 (exactly $210) | El Abrigo de Paulo | |
 | Population Goals! | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | Thirty55 Design | |
 | Electric Road | $0.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $89 (exactly $89) | Mipeu Studio |
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.