Games › Simulation › Simulation + Shop Keeper
Should I ship a Shop Keeper Simulation game?
Simulation + Shop Keeper
Of 504 developers who shipped a Shop Keeper 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.. 961 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×6.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $660; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×762 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 961 games are announced against 448 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $659 (exactly $659) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.0k (exactly $3,953) |
| Top 25% | $32k (exactly $32,373) |
| Top 5% | $479k (exactly $478,552) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 504 |
| Released games | 625 |
| Announced | 961 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 85% on the market, supply 580% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Shop Keeper
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Shop Keeper; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Life Sim, Economy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 113,796 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $660. 5 in 10 of the 71 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 961 games are announced against 448 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
Retro Rewind - Video Store Simulator 2026 · $6.0M 
ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs 2026 · $5.5M 
Tiny Bookshop 2025 · $4.2M 
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale 2010 · $4.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Retro Rewind - Video Store Simulator | $19.90 | 10,118 95% | 304k | $6.0M (exactly $6,040,446) | Blood Pact Studios | |
| | ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs | $19.99 | 9,209 95% | 276k | $5.5M (exactly $5,522,637) | Mandragora | |
| | Tiny Bookshop | $19.99 | 6,967 96% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,178,110) | neoludic games | |
| | Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale | older | $19.99 | 6,684 95% | 201k | $4.0M (exactly $4,008,395) | EasyGameStation |
 | Storage Hunter Simulator | $24.99 | 3,866 78% | 116k | $2.9M (exactly $2,898,340) | Raccoons Studio | |
 | Grocery Store Simulator | $14.99 | 5,337 90% | 160k | $2.4M (exactly $2,400,049) | EXPERIMENT ONE | |
 | King of Retail | older | $25.99 | 2,982 88% | 89k | $2.3M (exactly $2,325,065) | Freaking Games |
 | BidKing | $2.99 | 22,238 33% | 667k | $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) | MindSurge Network & Games | |
 | Tavern Manager Simulator 🍻 | older | $14.99 | 4,018 91% | 121k | $1.8M (exactly $1,806,895) | One More Time |
 | Roadside Research | · EA | $14.99 | 3,991 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) | Cybernetic Walrus |
 | Aeruta | $19.99 | 2,391 94% | 72k | $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883) | FromDawn Games | |
 | Discounty | $19.99 | 2,322 82% | 70k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,503) | Crinkle Cut Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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