Do I ship it?

GamesPvEPvE + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Solitaire game?

PvE + Solitaire

Of 25 developers who shipped a PvE Solitaire 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.. 28 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $120 in the last 2 years and $150 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 13 developers shipped in the last year and 28 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 2050% on the market, 28 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $899 → $0 → $120 → $150 → $6.3k (still earning) → $269 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $120 (exactly $120)
Top 25% $718 (exactly $718)
Top 5% $247k (exactly $246,885)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 101
Announced 28
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $3.99

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 2050% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
PvE, Solitaire; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Card Battler
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Family Friendly, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 2,174 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $120, 1 in 4 over $710, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  2. + IdlerFair161 devs · median $1.0k · 229 announced
  3. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  4. + TypingFair23 devs · median $719 · 27 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  6. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds50 devs · median $85k · 120 announced
  7. + HeistPoor odds18 devs · median $30k · 50 announced
  8. + MMORPGPoor odds34 devs · median $25k · 248 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds10 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  10. + NavalPoor odds21 devs · median $11k · 59 announced
  11. + SpaceshipsPoor odds16 devs · median $6.3k · 20 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds10 devs · median $6.3k · 13 announced

All 243 pairs on the PvE page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
One Turn Kill $7.99 1,478 95% 44k $354k (exactly $354,277) DenDen
Zoominoes $14.99 549 91% 16k $247k (exactly $246,885) Starlight Games inc.
Picross Fairytale - nonogram: Red Riding Hood secret older $14.99 235 73% 7.1k $106k (exactly $105,680) Somer Games
Mahjong World Contest (麻将) older $14.99 193 88% 5.8k $87k (exactly $86,792) Creobit
Mahjong Magic Journey older $14.99 136 80% 4.1k $61k (exactly $61,159) Creobit
Mosaics Galore older $14.99 111 75% 3.3k $50k (exactly $49,917) Creobit
Solitaire Christmas. Match 2 Cards older $14.99 88 72% 2.6k $40k (exactly $39,574) Creobit
Solitaire Beach Season older $14.99 88 76% 2.6k $40k (exactly $39,574) Creobit
災難公關+ $7.99 112 90% 3.4k $27k (exactly $26,846) TamaniDamani
Picross Fairytale: Legend of the Mermaid older $14.99 48 52% 1.4k $22k (exactly $21,586) Somer Games
PROMulti-TableTournament $18.99 11 63% 330 $6.3k (exactly $6,267) GONGXIN
Royal's Gambit $14.99 6 100% 180 $2.7k (exactly $2,698) 96 Games Studio
Luxuriant $14.99 2 100% 60 $899 (exactly $899) Goblin Runt
OrbHand $2.99 8 100% 240 $718 (exactly $718) Jesus Rugarcia
Rotminers: Escape or Die $2.99 4 100% 120 $359 (exactly $359) X1 Studio
Brazzante $2.99 3 100% 90 $269 (exactly $269) All Place
研究生战斗 $5.99 1 100% 30 $180 (exactly $180) lhll

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