Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Solitaire Survival game?

Survival + Solitaire

Only 18 developers shipped a Solitaire Survival game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Arcana Academy, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 11 developers shipped in the last year and 13 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 4200% on the market, 13 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.9k → $30 → $16k → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $12,529)
Top 5% $30k (exactly $30,130)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 38
Announced 13
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 4200% on the market, supply 55% 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.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
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
Survival, Solitaire; all of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Management, Strategy
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
all of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 391 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $480, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $30k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stacklands older $7.99 29,244 96% 877k $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) Sokpop Collective
Arcana Academy $14.99 67 71% 2.0k $30k (exactly $30,130) 2A Studio
Frost older $6.99 129 87% 3.9k $27k (exactly $27,051) Jérôme Bodin
Paper Kingdom $12.99 65 61% 2.0k $25k (exactly $25,330) obece
Last Farewell older $14.99 52 69% 1.6k $23k (exactly $23,384) Flat Tail Studios AB
Decks of the Damned $9.99 54 68% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) Thorian Games
It's time, Your Majesty $6.99 77 64% 2.3k $16k (exactly $16,147) String studio
WAGON $10.99 38 94% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,529) de_husk
Myth Monkey Card $5.99 62 100% 1.9k $11k (exactly $11,141) Myth Card Studio
Roulette Heist $6.99 18 94% 540 $3.8k (exactly $3,775) DreamArk Lab
Throne of Cards $11.99 2 50% 60 $719 (exactly $719) Hidden Universe Games
XenoCard $3.99 4 75% 120 $479 (exactly $479) Hanging Hand
Rotminers: Escape or Die $2.99 4 100% 120 $359 (exactly $359) X1 Studio

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