Do I ship it?

Games › Simulation › Simulation + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Score Attack Simulation game?

Simulation + Score Attack

Of 240 developers who shipped a Score Attack Simulation 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.. 282 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 282 games are announced against 142 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 282 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Simulation + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 240
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $719 → $628 → $1.9k → $838 → $449 → $450 → $479 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Simulation + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 240
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $3.3k (exactly $3,297)
Top 5% $115k (exactly $115,384)
Developers, 2 yr 240
Released games 707
Announced 282
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 90% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Simulation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Score Attack
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Simulation, Score Attack; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Arcade, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 38,923 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $480, 1 in 4 over $3.2k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 119 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 282 games are announced against 142 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds150 devs · median $55k · 81 announced
  2. + Escape RoomStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  3. + World War IFair23 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair285 devs · median $12k · 362 announced
  5. + LGBTQ+Fair272 devs · median $9.7k · 303 announced
  6. + PinballFair27 devs · median $8.2k · 28 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair672 devs · median $5.1k · 754 announced
  8. + BirdsFair19 devs · median $3.8k · 16 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair387 devs · median $3.0k · 490 announced
  10. + MusicFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 92 announced
  11. + Auto BattlerFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  12. + ProgrammingFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced

All 287 pairs on the Simulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Assetto Corsa Rally 2025 · EA · $7.9M Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! 2026 · $4.4M WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship 2020 · $1.8M LUFTRAUSERS 2014 · $1.0M Superflight 2017 · $991k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Assetto Corsa Rally · EA $29.99 8,757 87% 263k $7.9M (exactly $7,878,673) Supernova Games Studios
Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! $5.99 24,497 94% 735k $4.4M (exactly $4,402,111) ArtRising
WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship older $29.99 2,007 74% 60k $1.8M (exactly $1,805,698) KT Racing
LUFTRAUSERS older $9.99 3,398 91% 102k $1.0M (exactly $1,018,381) Vlambeer
Superflight older $2.99 11,047 96% 331k $991k (exactly $990,916) GrizzlyGames
Absolute Drift older $14.99 2,192 89% 66k $986k (exactly $985,742) Funselektor Labs Inc., FlippFly
Aim Hero · EA older $4.99 5,453 85% 164k $816k (exactly $816,314) ProGames Studio
Arcade Paradise older $19.99 1,213 85% 36k $727k (exactly $727,436) Nosebleed Interactive
Driftwood $19.99 1,197 92% 36k $718k (exactly $717,841) Stoked Sloth Interactive
Kayak VR: Mirage older $22.99 1,006 82% 30k $694k (exactly $693,838) Better Than Life
Beatblock · EA $14.99 1,237 97% 37k $556k (exactly $556,279) BubbleTabby
ISLANDERS: New Shores $9.99 1,230 96% 37k $369k (exactly $368,631) The Station
VRacer Hoverbike $29.99 307 89% 9.2k $276k (exactly $276,208) VertexBreakers
Urban Jungle $11.99 667 90% 20k $240k (exactly $239,920) KYLYK
Torque Drift 2 · EA $19.99 376 62% 11k $225k (exactly $225,487) Grease Monkey Games
ZDSimulator $16.99 408 89% 12k $208k (exactly $207,958) ZDSimulator Team
Copa City: Matchday Manager $24.99 247 72% 7.4k $185k (exactly $185,176) Triple Espresso S.A.

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