Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Cooking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cooking game?

Cooking

Of 640 developers who shipped a Cooking 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.. 1,252 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×6.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $560k, ×1187 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 1,252 games are announced against 403 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 1,252 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Cooking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 640
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $3.2k → $3.9k → $5.4k → $3.0k → $4.2k → $2.4k (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Cooking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 640
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.9k (exactly $2,875)
Top 25% $27k (exactly $26,978)
Top 5% $564k (exactly $563,736)
Developers, 2 yr 640
Released games 1,374
Announced 1,252
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $7.99

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 65% 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.

Cooking
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
Systems
Cooking
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.90 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.90 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 96,998 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.9k, 1 in 4 over $26k, 1 in 20 over $560k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 317 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,252 games are announced against 403 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Cooking

96 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Job Simulator + Cooking Fair $14k 54 devs
  2. Cooking + Dogs Fair $8.1k 12 devs
  3. Turn-Based Combat + Cooking Fair $6.0k 15 devs
  4. Cooking + Point & Click Fair $1.8k 68 devs
  5. Cooking + Logic Fair $1.6k 27 devs
  6. Cooking + Score Attack Fair $1.4k 28 devs
  7. Cooking + Hidden Object Fair $1.0k 25 devs
  8. Cooking + Puzzle Fair $958 77 devs
  9. Cooking + Artificial Intelligence Poor odds $73k 15 devs
  10. JRPG + Cooking Poor odds $34k 13 devs
  11. Cooking + LGBTQ+ Poor odds $30k 16 devs
  12. Open World Survival Craft + Cooking Poor odds $26k 12 devs
  13. Cooking + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $24k 19 devs
  14. Building + Cooking Poor odds $18k 108 devs
  15. Cooking + Farming Poor odds $17k 17 devs
  16. Cooking + Sci-fi Poor odds $16k 18 devs
  17. Co-op + Cooking Poor odds $14k 76 devs
  18. Farming Sim + Cooking Poor odds $12k 78 devs
  19. Economy + Cooking Poor odds $12k 116 devs
  20. Sandbox + Cooking Poor odds $12k 115 devs
  21. Trading + Cooking Poor odds $12k 33 devs
  22. Creature Collector + Cooking Poor odds $12k 19 devs
  23. Cooking + Romance Poor odds $12k 42 devs
  24. Cooking + Capitalism Poor odds $11k 41 devs
  25. Base Building + Cooking Poor odds $11k 53 devs
  26. RPG + Cooking Poor odds $10k 102 devs
  27. Cooking + Dating Sim Poor odds $10k 36 devs
  28. Fishing + Cooking Poor odds $10k 56 devs
  29. Resource Management + Cooking Poor odds $9.6k 136 devs
  30. Character Customization + Cooking Poor odds $9.6k 79 devs
  31. Life Sim + Cooking Poor odds $9.4k 204 devs
  32. Walking Simulator + Cooking Poor odds $8.6k 26 devs
  33. Open World + Cooking Poor odds $8.4k 64 devs
  34. Cooking + Inventory Management Poor odds $8.4k 62 devs
  35. Management + Cooking Poor odds $8.1k 252 devs
  36. Cooking + Psychological Horror Poor odds $7.1k 40 devs
  37. Online Co-Op + Cooking Poor odds $6.7k 62 devs
  38. Local Co-Op + Cooking Poor odds $6.7k 22 devs
  39. Cooking + Visual Novel Poor odds $6.3k 54 devs
  40. Crafting + Cooking Poor odds $6.0k 216 devs
  41. Immersive Sim + Cooking Poor odds $6.0k 145 devs
  42. Cooking + Female Protagonist Poor odds $5.7k 56 devs
  43. Agriculture + Cooking Poor odds $5.5k 45 devs
  44. Local Multiplayer + Cooking Poor odds $5.5k 23 devs
  45. Cooking + Tabletop Poor odds $5.4k 12 devs
  46. Adventure + Cooking Poor odds $5.4k 157 devs
  47. Cooking + Fantasy Poor odds $5.1k 85 devs
  48. Cooking + Horror Poor odds $5.1k 46 devs
  49. Cooking + Multiple Endings Poor odds $5.1k 43 devs
  50. Cooking + Medieval Poor odds $5.1k 29 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Overcooked! 2 2018 · $46M Disney Dreamlight Valley 2023 · $26M Black Desert 2017 · $19M Sun Haven 2023 · $17M The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty 2024 · $15M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Overcooked! 2 older $24.99 61,956 90% 1.9M $46M (exactly $46,448,413) Ghost Town Games Ltd., Team17
Disney Dreamlight Valley older $39.99 22,027 92% 661k $26M (exactly $26,425,792) Gameloft
Black Desert older $9.99 63,052 75% 1.9M $19M (exactly $18,896,684) Pearl Abyss
Sun Haven older $24.99 22,069 79% 662k $17M (exactly $16,545,129) Pixel Sprout Studios
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty older $9.99 49,765 94% 1.5M $15M (exactly $14,914,570) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
Fields of Mistria $13.99 31,918 96% 958k $13M (exactly $13,395,985) NPC Studio
Hello Kitty Island Adventure $39.99 9,637 93% 289k $12M (exactly $11,561,509) Sunblink
PlateUp! older $19.99 18,500 94% 555k $11M (exactly $11,094,450) It's happening
Cooking Simulator older $19.99 17,837 84% 535k $11M (exactly $10,696,849) Big Cheese Studio
Stranded: Alien Dawn older $34.99 9,715 84% 291k $10M (exactly $10,197,836) Haemimont Games
SULFUR · EA $24.99 9,641 87% 289k $7.2M (exactly $7,227,858) Perfect Random
Starsand Island $39.99 5,898 76% 177k $7.1M (exactly $7,075,831) Seed Sparkle Lab
STORY OF SEASONS: Grand Bazaar $49.99 3,140 93% 94k $4.7M (exactly $4,709,058) Marvelous Inc.
Tavern Keeper 🍻 · EA $29.99 4,563 94% 137k $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) Greenheart Games 💚
Fast Food Simulator · EA $14.99 8,653 86% 260k $3.9M (exactly $3,891,254) No Ceiling Games
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator $17.99 7,019 83% 211k $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) Biotech Gameworks
The Quinfall $9.99 12,073 50% 362k $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) Vawraek Technology Inc.
Farm Together 2 $25.99 4,456 93% 134k $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) Milkstone Studios

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