Do I ship it?

GamesMoodsColorful

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Colorful game?

Colorful

Of 7,663 developers who shipped a Colorful 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.. 12,522 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×7.5 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×1682 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 12,522 games are announced against 4,649 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 12,522 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Colorful
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 7,663
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $1.5k → $1.2k → $1.3k → $1.1k → $1.2k → $896 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Colorful: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 7,663
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $7.0k (exactly $7,012)
Top 5% $200k (exactly $200,170)
Developers, 2 yr 7,663
Released games 25,781
Announced 12,522
Effort 2 / 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 up 10% on the market, supply 40% 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Colorful
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 288,171 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $900, 1 in 4 over $7.0k, 1 in 20 over $200k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 4,691 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12,522 games are announced against 4,649 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Colorful

0 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any

No pair with Colorful has 25 games yet.

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ULTRAKILL · EA older $29.99 213,450 97% 6.4M $192M (exactly $192,040,965) Arsi "Hakita" Patala
Total War: WARHAMMER III older $59.99 104,822 71% 3.1M $189M (exactly $188,648,153) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive
Persona 5 Royal older $59.99 91,682 96% 2.8M $165M (exactly $165,000,095) ATLUS
Stray older $29.99 157,579 97% 4.7M $142M (exactly $141,773,826) BlueTwelve Studio
Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition $59.99 70,073 78% 2.1M $126M (exactly $126,110,378) Asobo Studio
Cuphead older $19.99 198,790 96% 6.0M $119M (exactly $119,214,363) Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc.
ASTRONEER older $29.99 118,844 91% 3.6M $107M (exactly $106,923,947) System Era Softworks
Among Us older $4.99 659,003 92% 20M $99M (exactly $98,652,749) Innersloth
Geometry Dash older $4.99 595,606 93% 18M $89M (exactly $89,162,218) RobTop Games
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator older $19.99 144,036 97% 4.3M $86M (exactly $86,378,389) Landfall
Metaphor: ReFantazio $69.99 25,224 89% 757k $53M (exactly $52,962,833) ATLUS
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 $69.99 21,633 59% 649k $45M (exactly $45,422,810) Asobo Studio
Slime Rancher 2 $29.99 43,590 94% 1.3M $39M (exactly $39,217,923) Monomi Park
REMATCH $29.99 39,905 70% 1.2M $36M (exactly $35,902,528) Sloclap
Planet Coaster 2 $49.99 13,047 74% 391k $20M (exactly $19,566,586) Frontier Developments
Big Walk $19.99 32,470 95% 974k $19M (exactly $19,472,259) House House
Avowed $49.99 12,653 76% 380k $19M (exactly $18,975,704) Obsidian Entertainment
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS $49.99 12,178 96% 365k $18M (exactly $18,263,347) Sonic Team
Titan Quest II · EA $34.99 17,398 81% 522k $18M (exactly $18,262,681) Grimlore Games

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