Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Collectathon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Collectathon game?

Collectathon

Of 1,328 developers who shipped a Collectathon 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.. 1,909 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×445 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 1,909 games are announced against 809 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 1,909 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Collectathon
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,328
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $1.8k → $2.1k → $1.2k → $1.4k → $1.3k → $836 (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Collectathon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,328
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Top 25% $9.0k (exactly $8,991)
Top 5% $212k (exactly $211,525)
Developers, 2 yr 1,328
Released games 3,593
Announced 1,909
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 35% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

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

Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Collectathon
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 193,935 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $8.9k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 793 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,909 games are announced against 809 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Collectathon

132 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Collectathon + Job Simulator Strong odds $33k 33 devs
  2. Turn-Based + Collectathon Fair $14k 7 devs
  3. Economy + Collectathon Fair $3.8k 125 devs
  4. Management + Collectathon Fair $3.5k 182 devs
  5. Level Editor + Collectathon Fair $3.4k 15 devs
  6. Collectathon + Sokoban Fair $2.4k 12 devs
  7. Combat Racing + Collectathon Fair $2.2k 10 devs
  8. Collectathon + Mining Fair $2.1k 63 devs
  9. Collectathon + Idler Fair $1.9k 229 devs
  10. Collectathon + Resource Management Fair $1.9k 167 devs
  11. Loot + Collectathon Fair $1.9k 90 devs
  12. Collectathon + Typing Fair $1.8k 11 devs
  13. Collectathon + Incremental Fair $1.7k 225 devs
  14. Collectathon + Minigames Fair $1.4k 12 devs
  15. Shooter + Collectathon Fair $1.4k 69 devs
  16. Collectathon + Word Game Fair $1.2k 18 devs
  17. Beat 'em up + Collectathon Fair $1.2k 25 devs
  18. Collectathon + Time Attack Fair $1.1k 10 devs
  19. Survival + Collectathon Fair $1.0k 77 devs
  20. Collectathon + Point & Click Fair $1.0k 197 devs
  21. Collectathon + Walking Simulator Fair $898 122 devs
  22. Collectathon + Grid-Based Movement Fair $809 17 devs
  23. Collectathon + Quick-Time Events Fair $720 15 devs
  24. Physics + Collectathon Fair $718 179 devs
  25. Collectathon + Time Manipulation Fair $657 10 devs
  26. Collectathon + Card Battler Fair $628 35 devs
  27. Collectathon + Logic Fair $598 71 devs
  28. Collectathon + Arcade Fair $359 277 devs
  29. Third-Person Shooter + Collectathon Long shot $599 19 devs
  30. 3D Fighter + Collectathon Long shot $598 15 devs
  31. Arena Shooter + Collectathon Long shot $150 12 devs
  32. Split Screen + Collectathon Poor odds $38k 10 devs
  33. Collectathon + Trading Poor odds $30k 28 devs
  34. Collectathon + Metroidvania Poor odds $16k 30 devs
  35. Hack and Slash + Collectathon Poor odds $14k 32 devs
  36. Collectathon + Shop Keeper Poor odds $12k 44 devs
  37. Collectathon + Desktop Companion Poor odds $6.6k 30 devs
  38. Party-Based RPG + Collectathon Poor odds $6.3k 24 devs
  39. Trading Card Game + Collectathon Poor odds $6.3k 26 devs
  40. Collectathon + Local Co-Op Poor odds $6.3k 19 devs
  41. Collectathon + Gambling Poor odds $5.2k 16 devs
  42. Immersive Sim + Collectathon Poor odds $4.9k 111 devs
  43. Crafting + Collectathon Poor odds $4.8k 113 devs
  44. Collectathon + Farming Sim Poor odds $4.3k 76 devs
  45. JRPG + Collectathon Poor odds $4.3k 36 devs
  46. Building + Collectathon Poor odds $3.9k 94 devs
  47. Collectathon + Fishing Poor odds $3.7k 62 devs
  48. Online Co-Op + Collectathon Poor odds $3.7k 60 devs
  49. Collectathon + Life Sim Poor odds $3.1k 130 devs
  50. Collectathon + Dating Sim Poor odds $3.1k 28 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Temtem 2022 · $42M A Hat in Time 2017 · $39M Digimon Story Time Stranger 2025 · $33M TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road 2025 · $23M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Temtem older $44.99 31,263 82% 938k $42M (exactly $42,195,671) Crema
A Hat in Time older $29.99 42,863 97% 1.3M $39M (exactly $38,563,841) Gears for Breakfast
Digimon Story Time Stranger $69.99 15,845 89% 475k $33M (exactly $33,269,746) Media.Vision Inc.
TCG Card Shop Simulator $19.99 47,357 96% 1.4M $28M (exactly $28,399,993) OPNeon Games
INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road $69.99 11,180 88% 335k $23M (exactly $23,474,646) LEVEL5 Inc.
Spyro™ Reignited Trilogy older $39.99 14,211 92% 426k $17M (exactly $17,048,937) Toys for Bob, Iron Galaxy Studios
Cookie Clicker older $4.99 87,916 96% 2.6M $13M (exactly $13,161,025) Orteil, DashNet
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated older $29.99 14,439 94% 433k $13M (exactly $12,990,768) Purple Lamp
Travellers Rest · EA older $17.99 16,538 87% 496k $8.9M (exactly $8,925,559) Isolated Games
WEBFISHING $4.99 57,353 97% 1.7M $8.6M (exactly $8,585,744) lamedeveloper
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land $69.99 2,534 64% 76k $5.3M (exactly $5,320,640) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Elin · EA $19.99 8,406 93% 252k $5.0M (exactly $5,041,078) Lafrontier
Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! $5.99 24,497 94% 735k $4.4M (exactly $4,402,111) ArtRising
Tiny Bookshop $19.99 6,967 96% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,178,110) neoludic games
Shelldiver $4.99 16,806 98% 504k $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) Gagonfe
Star Birds · EA $19.99 2,990 92% 90k $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) Toukana Interactive

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