Should I ship a Minimalist game?
Minimalist
Of 2,791 developers who shipped a Minimalist 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.. 3,373 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $120 for a 2 / 10 build. 1,766 developers shipped in the last year and 3,373 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) |
| Top 5% | $52k (exactly $52,043) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 2,791 |
| Released games | 9,578 |
| Announced | 3,373 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Minimalist
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 82,217 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 1,530 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 3,373 games are announced against 1,766 developers who shipped in the last year.
All pairs with Minimalist
No pair with Minimalist has 25 games yet.
Comparable games
INSIDE 2016 · $52M 
Beat Saber 2019 · $42M 
Gorilla Tag 2023 · $32M 
SUPERHOT 2016 · $21M 
Kingdom Two Crowns 2018 · $19M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | INSIDE | older | $24.99 | 69,791 97% | 2.1M | $52M (exactly $52,322,313) | Playdead |
| | Beat Saber | older | $19.99 | 69,750 95% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $41,829,075) | Beat Games |
| | Gorilla Tag | older | $19.99 | 52,637 93% | 1.6M | $32M (exactly $31,566,409) | Another Axiom Inc. |
| | SUPERHOT | older | $24.99 | 27,765 91% | 833k | $21M (exactly $20,815,420) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | Kingdom Two Crowns | older | $19.99 | 31,259 90% | 938k | $19M (exactly $18,746,022) | Fury Studios, Coatsink |
 | Superliminal | older | $19.99 | 28,428 94% | 853k | $17M (exactly $17,048,272) | Pillow Castle |
 | LIMBO | older | $12.49 | 40,672 91% | 1.2M | $15M (exactly $15,239,798) | Playdead |
 | Loop Hero | older | $14.99 | 33,816 92% | 1.0M | $15M (exactly $15,207,055) | Four Quarters |
 | Infection Free Zone | · EA older | $24.99 | 16,568 80% | 497k | $12M (exactly $12,421,030) | Jutsu Games |
 | Dorfromantik | older | $13.99 | 27,441 96% | 823k | $12M (exactly $11,516,988) | Toukana Interactive |
 | Thronefall | $12.99 | 22,966 96% | 689k | $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) | GrizzlyGames, Mythwright | |
 | Cast n Chill | $14.99 | 8,383 94% | 251k | $3.8M (exactly $3,769,835) | Wombat Brawler | |
 | Scritchy Scratchy | $6.99 | 15,245 94% | 457k | $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) | Lunch Money Games | |
 | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
 | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
 | Esports Manager 2026 | $19.99 | 3,860 73% | 116k | $2.3M (exactly $2,314,842) | Neurona Games | |
 | Öoo | $9.99 | 6,575 99% | 197k | $2.0M (exactly $1,970,528) | NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuy… (NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuyomi) | |
 | Star Birds | · EA | $19.99 | 2,990 92% | 90k | $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) | Toukana Interactive |
 | Plan B: Terraform | $15.99 | 3,526 91% | 106k | $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) | Gaddy Games | |
 | Sword of the Sea | $29.99 | 1,638 89% | 49k | $1.5M (exactly $1,473,709) | Giant Squid |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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