Games › Strategy › Strategy + Shop Keeper
Should I ship a Shop Keeper Strategy game?
Strategy + Shop Keeper
Of 159 developers who shipped a Shop Keeper Strategy 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.. 264 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 264 games are announced against 140 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $298 (exactly $298) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $12,288) |
| Top 5% | $282k (exactly $281,723) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 159 |
| Released games | 192 |
| Announced | 264 |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 600% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy
- 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
- Strategy, Shop Keeper; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Economy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 52% positive over 34,487 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 264 games are announced against 140 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + HackingFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale 2010 · $4.0M 
Grocery Store Simulator 2024 · $2.4M 
King of Retail 2022 · $2.3M 
BidKing 2026 · $2.0M 
Cat Cafe Manager 2022 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale | older | $19.99 | 6,684 95% | 201k | $4.0M (exactly $4,008,395) | EasyGameStation |
| | 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 | |
| | Cat Cafe Manager | older | $19.99 | 2,174 87% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,303,748) | Roost Games |
 | Another Brick in The Mall | older | $16.99 | 2,340 83% | 70k | $1.2M (exactly $1,192,698) | The Quadsphere |
 | No Umbrellas Allowed | older | $19.99 | 1,394 80% | 42k | $836k (exactly $835,982) | Hoochoo Game Studios |
 | The Chef's Shift | $12.99 | 1,948 97% | 58k | $759k (exactly $759,136) | Panitia GameDev | |
 | Winkeltje: The Little Shop | older | $14.99 | 1,612 88% | 48k | $725k (exactly $724,916) | Sassybot |
 | Sigma Theory: Global Cold War | older | $17.99 | 892 77% | 27k | $481k (exactly $481,412) | Mi-Clos Studio, Goblinz Studio, FibreTi… (Mi-Clos Studio, Goblinz Studio, FibreTigre) |
 | Blood Bar Tycoon | $19.99 | 773 79% | 23k | $464k (exactly $463,568) | Clever Trickster Studio, Clever Trickst… (Clever Trickster Studio, Clever Trickster Productions) | |
 | Witchy Business | $14.99 | 865 86% | 26k | $389k (exactly $388,990) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Potion Tycoon | $19.99 | 629 71% | 19k | $377k (exactly $377,211) | Snowhound Games | |
 | Cats & Cups | $9.99 | 1,047 89% | 31k | $314k (exactly $313,786) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Above the Snow | $24.99 | 383 75% | 11k | $287k (exactly $287,135) | Above the Desk | |
 | SkyBrew: Entropic Strategist | $17.99 | 522 75% | 16k | $282k (exactly $281,723) | ATRIC Games | |
 | Medieval Crafter: Blacksmith | $11.99 | 745 76% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,976) | Compact Core Games |
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.