The niche at a glance

Base Building on Steam: 4,162 released games, 1,093 in the last 12 months, 3,969 announced and still unreleased. Of the 2,052 released between three years and 90 days ago, the median has 26 lifetime reviews. 35% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 8%. Base Building 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 included2,052 releases
p101
p254
median26
p75236
p901,419
35% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $9.99 · 8% 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
116median 251 · 9% under 10 reviews
2020
226median 80 · 22% under 10 reviews
2021
319median 39 · 30% under 10 reviews
2022
331median 43 · 26% under 10 reviews
2023
496median 35 · 28% under 10 reviews
2024
659median 28 · 33% under 10 reviews
2025
754median 27 · 35% under 10 reviews
2026
952median 22 · 38% under 10 reviews · 401 too fresh

Base Building × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with Base Building at least 5 times · same window× setting× presentation
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
Base Building ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Historical1283412732.8% 25%–41%29.3%
cliché ×1.93189 d
Manor Lords
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Against the Storm
Manor Lords · Assassin’s Creed Shadows · Against the Storm
Trains261024742.3% 26%–61%26.8%
cliché ×2.97250 d
Voidtrain
Last Train Home
Plan B: Terraform
Voidtrain · Last Train Home · Plan B: Terraform
Transportation3194338.7% 24%–56%26.1%
cliché ×2.62104 d
Pacific Drive
shapez 2 - Factory
RoadCraft
Pacific Drive · shapez 2 - Factory · RoadCraft
Martial Arts104591under 2024.4%
ordinary ×0.39215 d
The Lost Village
The Matchless Kungfu
Eastern Era
The Lost Village · The Matchless Kungfu · Eastern Era
Post-apocalyptic227744824.7% 20%–31%23.2%
cliché ×3.15106 d
7 Days to Die
Timberborn
Deadside
7 Days to Die · Timberborn · Deadside
Mars198105under 2021.3%
cliché ×4.90233 d
Plan B: Terraform
Occupy Mars: The Game
Surviving Mars: Relaunched
Plan B: Terraform · Occupy Mars: The Game · Surviving Mars: Relaunched
Alternate History44137527.3% 16%–42%20.8%
ordinary ×1.29236 d
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Farthest Frontier
Empires of the Undergrowth
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic · Farthest Frontier · Empires of the Undergrowth
Horror80242723.8% 16%–34%20.3%
avoided ×0.33167 d
Sons Of The Forest
7 Days to Die
Subnautica 2
Sons Of The Forest · 7 Days to Die · Subnautica 2
Agriculture97324522.7% 15%–32%19.9%
cliché ×4.82172 d
Farthest Frontier
Fabledom
Farm Together 2
Farthest Frontier · Fabledom · Farm Together 2
Cleaning75623under 2019.7%
ordinary ×0.86128 d
House Flipper 2
Cozy Cleaner
House Flipper Remastered Collection
House Flipper 2 · Cozy Cleaner · House Flipper Remastered Collection
Dating Sim23823230.4% 16%–51%19.4%
avoided ×0.20224 d
Return from Core
BM General Hospital
Island Notes
Return from Core · BM General Hospital · Island Notes
Mining113482621.2% 15%–30%19.0%
cliché ×5.71104 d
SpaceBourne 2
MineMogul
Lightyear Frontier
SpaceBourne 2 · MineMogul · Lightyear Frontier
Underwater241015929.2% 15%–49%18.9%
cliché ×1.60167 d
Subnautica 2
The Last Caretaker
Survival: Fountain of Youth
Subnautica 2 · The Last Caretaker · Survival: Fountain of Youth
Job Simulator301315626.7% 14%–44%18.7%
ordinary ×1.15128 d
Tavern Manager Simulator 🍻
The Ranch of Rivershine
Coffee Caravan
Tavern Manager Simulator 🍻 · The Ranch of Rivershine · Coffee Caravan
Survival Horror75223121.3% 14%–32%18.2%
ordinary ×0.81167 d
Sons Of The Forest
Subnautica 2
Pacific Drive
Sons Of The Forest · Subnautica 2 · Pacific Drive
47 pairings cleared 20 releases; 48 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.