Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Underground

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underground Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Underground

Of 55 developers who shipped an Underground Resource Management 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.. 129 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×464 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 129 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 129 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Underground
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 55
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $27k → $22k → $2.6k → $5.9k → $8.2k → $2.4k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Underground: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 55
Bottom 30% $358 (exactly $358)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,158)
Top 25% $9.4k (exactly $9,352)
Top 5% $220k (exactly $220,475)
Developers, 2 yr 55
Released games 89
Announced 129
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 65% on the market, supply 145% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Underground
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Resource Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Mining, Simulation, Strategy
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Stylized, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 8,978 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $9.3k, 1 in 20 over $220k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 129 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair630 devs · median $1.8k · 1,025 announced
  9. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  11. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  12. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mr. Prepper 2021 · $2.9M MineMogul 2025 · EA · $1.9M Coal LLC 2025 · $604k STATIONflow 2020 · $259k Air Defender 2025 · EA · $220k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mr. Prepper older $19.99 4,795 81% 144k $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) Rejected Games
MineMogul · EA $14.99 4,330 96% 130k $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) NoodleForge (Gvarados & Diomonder)
Coal LLC $14.99 1,343 92% 40k $604k (exactly $603,947) Bye Bye Ocean
STATIONflow older $17.99 479 85% 14k $259k (exactly $258,516) DMM GAMES
Air Defender · EA $20.19 364 78% 11k $220k (exactly $220,475) ROTOR3
Time Walker: Dark World older $4.99 1,434 85% 43k $215k (exactly $214,670) Heartfun
The Hive older $19.99 299 71% 9.0k $179k (exactly $179,310) Skydome Entertainment
Below the Stone · EA older $14.99 391 83% 12k $176k (exactly $175,833) Strollart
Diggin $6.99 635 80% 19k $133k (exactly $133,160) Longshot Studio
Deep Corp · EA $11.99 365 89% 11k $131k (exactly $131,290) KishMish Games
Idle Deepcore $6.99 365 85% 11k $77k (exactly $76,540) Bluehood Games
DigDigDrill $3.99 607 95% 18k $73k (exactly $72,658) Toorai
iDigging $2.99 729 69% 22k $65k (exactly $65,391) TWEN
Deep Among the Swarm $8.99 132 85% 4.0k $36k (exactly $35,600) Pebble Mountain Games
Drill and Delve $8.99 108 87% 3.2k $29k (exactly $29,128) noOne

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