Mining
An average niche: demand and competition are roughly balanced — the idea and execution decide. Average across 4 platforms: niche 50/100, demand 61/100, competition 52/100, development cost 35/100. On Steam: 548 games and 21,889 players online; 16% of games reach 500+ reviews, average spend per player is $11.59.
Niche
50/100
Demand (0–100)
61/100
Competition
52/100
Dev cost
35/100
Spend per player
$11.59
Hit rate (500+ reviews)
16%
Key findings
- Ranked #44 of 100 in the overall niche ranking.
- The niche looks best on itch.io (65/100) and weakest on Google Play (40/100).
- Competition is below typical: 52/100 vs a median of 57/100 — a new game has an easier time getting noticed.
- Development cost is typical: index 35/100 vs a median of 39/100.
- On Steam, 16% of games reached 500+ reviews — about usual (median 16%).
- Small-studio games make up 49% of all Steam games with this tag.
By platform
| Platform | Popularity | Games / leaders’ share | Competition | Niche | Dev cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam | 47/100 | 548 | 39/100 | 43/100 | 34/100 |
| itch.io | 73/100 | 808 | 42/100 | 65/100 | 36/100 |
| Yandex Games | no data | ||||
| Google Play | 66/100 | 84% | 76/100 | 40/100 | 37/100 |
| App Store | 57/100 | 57% | 49/100 | 54/100 | 33/100 |
Example games — Steam
AAA / big hits
My Time at SandrockPathea Games · $39.99
Captain of IndustryMaFi Games · $34.99
Rise of Industry 2SomaSim · $34.99
Indie
Core KeeperPugstorm · $19.99
HydroneerFoulball Hangover · $14.99
TurmoilGamious · $12.99
Related genres
Data updated October 12, 2026 Methodology