The niche at a glance

Automation on Steam: 2,424 released games, 1,161 in the last 12 months, 2,220 announced and still unreleased. Of the 1,389 released between three years and 90 days ago, the median has 19 lifetime reviews. 38% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 9%. Automation is a Steam store tag, applied by the developer and refined by players; a game carries several tags at once, so niche counts overlap and do not add up to the size of the Steam catalogue. Data as of .

What releases end up with

lifetime reviews · released 3 years ago to 90 days ago · failures included1,389 releases
p101
p254
median19
p75118
p90632
38% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $5.99 · 9% free-to-play

Releases per year

outcomes count only games released more than 90 days ago, anything newer has not had time to gather reviews
2019
26median 530 · 15% under 10 reviews
2020
53median 72 · 23% under 10 reviews
2021
130median 36 · 29% under 10 reviews
2022
156median 40 · 28% under 10 reviews
2023
184median 27 · 29% under 10 reviews
2024
313median 32 · 31% under 10 reviews
2025
466median 21 · 38% under 10 reviews
2026
1,056median 14 · 44% under 10 reviews · 476 too fresh

Automation × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with Automation at least 5 times · same window× setting× presentation
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
Automation ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Job Simulator34219826.5% 15%–43%19.1%
cliché ×4.00105 d
Go-Go Town!
Docked
Returns Outlet Simulator
Go-Go Town! · Docked · Returns Outlet Simulator
Mining102633621.6% 15%–31%19.1%
cliché ×8.45105 d
Upload Labs
MineMogul
Lightyear Frontier
Upload Labs · MineMogul · Lightyear Frontier
Transportation38172323.7% 13%–39%17.8%
cliché ×7.02105 d
shapez 2 - Factory
RoadCraft
Plan B: Terraform
shapez 2 - Factory · RoadCraft · Plan B: Terraform
Post-apocalyptic50292322.0% 13%–35%17.6%
ordinary ×0.8593 d
Timberborn
Rusty's Retirement
The Last Caretaker
Timberborn · Rusty's Retirement · The Last Caretaker
Farming30153223.3% 12%–41%16.6%
cliché ×7.03105 d
Rusty's Retirement
The Farmer Was Replaced
Solarpunk™
Rusty's Retirement · The Farmer Was Replaced · Solarpunk™
Sci-fi194912117.5% 13%–23%16.5%
ordinary ×1.3493 d
Satisfactory
The Planet Crafter
shapez 2 - Factory
Satisfactory · The Planet Crafter · shapez 2 - Factory
Trains31158422.6% 11%–40%16.3%
cliché ×5.07251 d
Plan B: Terraform
Rail Route
Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure
Plan B: Terraform · Rail Route · Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure
Mars7375under 2016.0%
cliché ×2.51234 d
Plan B: Terraform
Blossom: The Seed of Life
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder
Plan B: Terraform · Blossom: The Seed of Life · Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder
Space123582117.1% 11%–25%15.6%
cliché ×1.76128 d
The Planet Crafter
Ocean World: Eden Crafters Prologue
Star Birds
The Planet Crafter · Ocean World: Eden Crafters Prologue · Star Birds
Underground22165922.7% 10%–43%15.1%
cliché ×2.1399 d
MineMogul
Dirty Business
Alaska Gold Fever
MineMogul · Dirty Business · Alaska Gold Fever
Space Sim49231218.4% 10%–31%15.0%
cliché ×3.22140 d
Astrometica
SpaceCraft
Astro Colony
Astrometica · SpaceCraft · Astro Colony
Psychological Horror2377721.7% 10%–42%14.7%
avoided ×0.18317 d
Sixty Four
Tingus Goose
Tapple - Idle Clicker
Sixty Four · Tingus Goose · Tapple - Idle Clicker
Fantasy167843015.6% 11%–22%14.6%
ordinary ×0.77108 d
The King is Watching
Fortune Mill
Skill Legends Royale
The King is Watching · Fortune Mill · Skill Legends Royale
Fishing44232518.2% 10%–32%14.6%
cliché ×2.92105 d
Cornerpond
Go-Go Town!
OxyRail
Cornerpond · Go-Go Town! · OxyRail
Medieval53301717.0% 9%–29%14.1%
ordinary ×0.84108 d
The King is Watching
Skill Legends Royale
Crusaders Quest : Hero Town
The King is Watching · Skill Legends Royale · Crusaders Quest : Hero Town
38 pairings cleared 20 releases; 65 more never reached 5 and are not listed. Compared against 6.6% for games that carry any tags at all.

About these numbers

“Adjusted” is the share pulled towards the catalogue with the weight of twenty releases: the top of any ranked list is optimistic (out of a hundred pairings one will show 35 % on 23 releases by luck alone), and the adjustment is what stops a small lucky group from leading. The band next to the raw share is the 95 % interval. This list is the same for everyone today; the second opinion is the description-based one on Pitch comps.