I'm convinced that YouTube's algorithm has no idea what it is doing

Alright, so I've been doing video for over decade now but I just recently gotten into shorts, with a change of content and being inactive for a while, so it is almost a fresh start.

I make Minecraft videos, especially showcases of builds on older version and specifically targeting viewers especially interested in nostalgic Minecraft content. It is certainly niche content but something people do love based on the fact that similar videos are performing well.

I can see the pattern now. I upload a video, YouTube takes at max. 24 hours to put it into the feed and when it hits about 500 views it stops. By checking the reach statistics I can see that most of my videos are under 50% viewed. This percentage fluctuates between 30-50%. Audience retention is not particularly great but if YouTube would find a suitable audience it wouldn't be a problem.

What I can conclude from this number is that YouTube shows my video to a ton of people who are not even interested in my content. Which would be understandable if my content wasn't hyper-focused and targeted at the audience in the title, in the description, in the thumbnail, in the tags. And I also upload basically the same videos, just with different buildings. Given these facts, YouTube is still unable to aim for the right audience.

I will keep uploading videos for a while to see if YouTube's algorithm will finally be able to find an audience, remotely interested in what I do. But after awhile I will get bored with this because I'm doing everything in my power to aid the algorithm, yet the algorithm acts a handicapped cactus that just randomly throws my content to people who aren't interested.

How do I know that it aims for the wrong audience? You can see it from the comments. The right audience will give you answers like "Ah, this is so nostalgic" or "I really like the old building style" etc. There are some of these comments, but I also get comments like "Ok, so?". If the viewer can't even comprehend what they are being shown, then what am I supposed to do? It is a building, I built and I make a video showing the build I built. It's not rocket science... So, I don't think that YouTube is aiming for the wrong audience, I know it.

This searching process wouldn't be a problem in general but when YouTube receives every aid possible and still fails miserably at finding an audience, I know that there is something wrong with the algorithm. An alternative answer could be that the algorithm actively puts "undesired" content into a disadvantageous position.

Also, my videos viewed/swiped away percentage actively changes with each video, despite the fact that all of them are almost identical.

Disclaimer: I want to be successful on YouTube but I run this channel mostly as a test, which if succeeds will slowly transform into a different kind of content. (If the shorts work out first.)

TL;DR: YouTube's algorithm is shit.