Do I ship it?

Games › Settings › Animals

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Animal game?

Animals

Of 262 developers who shipped an Animal 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.. 674 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $780, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×296 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 674 games are announced against 230 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 674 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Animals
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 262
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $24k → $12k → $7.0k → $7.8k → $4.9k → $7.7k → $2.5k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Animals: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 262
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $776 (exactly $776)
Top 25% $7.1k (exactly $7,130)
Top 5% $141k (exactly $140,700)
Developers, 2 yr 262
Released games 497
Announced 674
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 down 85% on the market, supply 490% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Animals
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 26,809 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 $780, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $140k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 6 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 674 games are announced against 230 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Animals

41 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Desktop Companion + Animals Fair $5.6k 22 devs
  2. Building + Animals Poor odds $9.3k 20 devs
  3. Sandbox + Animals Poor odds $7.6k 25 devs
  4. Open World + Animals Poor odds $5.7k 18 devs
  5. Exploration + Animals Poor odds $5.1k 61 devs
  6. RPG + Animals Poor odds $4.7k 24 devs
  7. Economy + Animals Poor odds $3.8k 18 devs
  8. Strategy + Animals Poor odds $3.6k 45 devs
  9. Management + Animals Poor odds $3.6k 35 devs
  10. Roguelite + Animals Poor odds $3.6k 32 devs
  11. Roguelike + Animals Poor odds $3.0k 29 devs
  12. Resource Management + Animals Poor odds $3.0k 24 devs
  13. Survival + Animals Poor odds $3.0k 12 devs
  14. Adventure + Animals Poor odds $2.9k 64 devs
  15. Life Sim + Animals Poor odds $2.7k 34 devs
  16. Incremental + Animals Poor odds $2.3k 28 devs
  17. Farming Sim + Animals Poor odds $2.1k 21 devs
  18. Crafting + Animals Poor odds $2.1k 18 devs
  19. Creature Collector + Animals Poor odds $1.9k 47 devs
  20. Online Co-Op + Animals Poor odds $1.9k 16 devs
  21. Character Customization + Animals Poor odds $1.8k 34 devs
  22. Simulation + Animals Poor odds $1.8k 95 devs
  23. Hidden Object + Animals Poor odds $1.5k 23 devs
  24. Puzzle + Animals Poor odds $1.4k 59 devs
  25. Physics + Animals Poor odds $1.2k 25 devs
  26. Co-op + Animals Poor odds $1.2k 15 devs
  27. Point & Click + Animals Poor odds $1.2k 36 devs
  28. Collectathon + Animals Poor odds $1.1k 36 devs
  29. Action + Animals Poor odds $1.1k 72 devs
  30. PvE + Animals Poor odds $538 25 devs
  31. 3D Platformer + Animals Poor odds $479 16 devs
  32. Platformer + Animals Poor odds $450 31 devs
  33. Action-Adventure + Animals Poor odds $450 24 devs
  34. Idler + Animals Poor odds $449 44 devs
  35. Logic + Animals Poor odds $299 10 devs
  36. Combat + Animals Dead $419 18 devs
  37. Arcade + Animals Dead $359 45 devs
  38. PvP + Animals Dead $300 16 devs
  39. Score Attack + Animals Dead $179 25 devs
  40. 2D Platformer + Animals Dead $150 28 devs
  41. Tabletop + Animals Dead $120 11 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Planet Zoo 2019 · $110M Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm 2023 · $31M WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition 2025 · $10M Prehistoric Kingdom 2022 · EA · $5.1M LOST EMBER 2019 · $3.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Planet Zoo older $44.99 81,191 90% 2.4M $110M (exactly $109,583,493) Frontier Developments
Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm older $24.99 40,862 79% 1.2M $31M (exactly $30,634,241) Toxic Dog
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition $29.99 11,511 97% 345k $10M (exactly $10,356,447) eduweb
Prehistoric Kingdom · EA older $29.99 5,640 90% 169k $5.1M (exactly $5,074,308) Blue Meridian
LOST EMBER older $29.99 4,198 87% 126k $3.8M (exactly $3,776,941) Mooneye Studios
Spirit of the North older $19.99 5,633 84% 169k $3.4M (exactly $3,378,110) Infuse Studio
Bear and Breakfast older $19.99 4,574 89% 137k $2.7M (exactly $2,743,028) Gummy Cat
Ghost of a Tale older $19.99 4,214 91% 126k $2.5M (exactly $2,527,136) SeithCG
Let's Build a Zoo older $19.99 3,722 89% 112k $2.2M (exactly $2,232,083) Springloaded
Owlboy older $19.99 3,679 85% 110k $2.2M (exactly $2,206,296) D-Pad Studio
Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite $9.99 6,876 76% 206k $2.1M (exactly $2,060,737) Odd Dreams Digital
OPUS: Prism Peak $24.99 1,071 92% 32k $803k (exactly $802,929) SIGONO INC.
Omelet You Cook $14.99 1,523 97% 46k $685k (exactly $684,893) Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose
Herdling $24.99 871 93% 26k $653k (exactly $652,989) Okomotive
Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts $14.99 1,041 97% 31k $468k (exactly $468,138) Yaza Games
The Ranchers · EA $24.99 547 57% 16k $410k (exactly $410,086) The Ranchers
A Webbing Journey · EA $9.99 1,263 98% 38k $379k (exactly $378,521) Fire Totem Games
Farm to Table · EA $14.99 645 91% 19k $290k (exactly $290,056) indieGiant
Sort Them Ducks $5.99 1,461 92% 44k $263k (exactly $262,542) Mr.Duck

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