Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Trains

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Train Survival game?

Survival + Trains

Only 16 developers shipped a Train 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, Voidtrain, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 36 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $24k, ×38 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $7.8M, ×12483 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 36 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 37.7 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 36 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Trains
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $56k → $85k (still earning) → $11k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Trains: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $24k (exactly $23,706)
Top 25% $255k (exactly $255,027)
Top 5% $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 42
Announced 36
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 600% 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.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Trains
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Base Building, Building
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 13,225 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $24k, 1 in 4 over $250k, 1 in 20 over $7.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 36 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different setting or mood, 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
Factorio older $35.00 191,814 97% 5.8M $201M (exactly $201,404,700) Wube Software LTD.
Stormworks: Build and Rescue older $24.99 54,649 90% 1.6M $41M (exactly $40,970,355) Geometa
Unrailed! older $19.99 13,789 93% 414k $8.3M (exactly $8,269,263) Indoor Astronaut
Voidtrain $29.99 8,713 73% 261k $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) HypeTrain Digital
Last Train Home older $39.99 4,511 86% 135k $5.4M (exactly $5,411,847) Ashborne Games
The Final Station older $14.99 6,739 88% 202k $3.0M (exactly $3,030,528) DO MY BEST
Zompiercer · EA older $19.99 4,562 88% 137k $2.7M (exactly $2,735,831) DDDimanN
Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition older $24.99 2,661 84% 80k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,952) Failbetter Games
Trans-Siberian Railway Simulator · EA older $19.99 1,835 91% 55k $1.1M (exactly $1,100,450) Pentacle
Unrailed 2: Back on Track $19.99 1,794 88% 54k $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) Indoor Astronaut
OxyRail · EA $14.99 949 80% 28k $427k (exactly $426,765) OxygenTech Limited
Heat Death: Survival Train · EA $11.99 709 77% 21k $255k (exactly $255,027) Mass Game Devs
EverRail · EA $14.99 372 69% 11k $167k (exactly $167,288) Aesir Interactive
Steel Artery: Train City Builder $14.99 305 71% 9.2k $137k (exactly $137,158) SoulAge23
Goblin Company $9.99 282 81% 8.5k $85k (exactly $84,515) BitBorne Studio
Union Of Rivals · EA $25.49 31 64% 930 $24k (exactly $23,706) 2Play
Belts of Iron · EA $14.99 46 89% 1.4k $21k (exactly $20,686) Builderment LLC
ExoTrain · EA $14.99 24 75% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Harpoon Games

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