Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Solitaire Action game?

Action + Solitaire

Of 28 developers who shipped a Solitaire Action 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.. 25 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $150 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 15 developers shipped in the last year and 25 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 25 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $418 → $90 → $60 → $119 → $718 → $60 → $598 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $479 (exactly $479)
Top 5% $11k (exactly $11,033)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 104
Announced 25
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $2.99

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 as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Solitaire; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Simulation, Strategy
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 319 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $470, 1 in 20 over $11k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Your Only Move Is HUSTLE 2023 · $5.8M Mahjong 2017 · $177k Star Trek: Starfleet Command Gold Edition 2016 · $127k Sherman Commander 2026 · $105k FreeCell Quest 2015 · $83k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Your Only Move Is HUSTLE older $4.99 38,703 96% 1.2M $5.8M (exactly $5,793,839) Ivy Sly
Mahjong older $9.99 589 84% 18k $177k (exactly $176,523) Sanuk Games
Star Trek: Starfleet Command Gold Edition older $19.99 211 60% 6.3k $127k (exactly $126,537) Interplay Entertainment Corp.
Sherman Commander $29.99 117 64% 3.5k $105k (exactly $105,265) Iron Wolf Studio S.A.
FreeCell Quest older $9.99 278 81% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Legend Studio
Mosaics Galore older $14.99 111 75% 3.3k $50k (exactly $49,917) Creobit
Khet 2.0 older $9.99 117 89% 3.5k $35k (exactly $35,065) BlueLine Games
Faerie Solitaire Dire · EA older $19.99 41 68% 1.2k $25k (exactly $24,588) Subsoap
Deca older $18.99 43 83% 1.3k $24k (exactly $24,497) Chrome Horizon 3D
Last Farewell older $14.99 52 69% 1.6k $23k (exactly $23,384) Flat Tail Studios AB
KUNKUN League $2.99 123 98% 3.7k $11k (exactly $11,033) Seal
Tales of The Nightmares™ Episode One $4.50 53 88% 1.6k $7.2k (exactly $7,155) RedDot Studios
Xenogen $7.49 4 100% 120 $899 (exactly $899) Sylph
OrbHand $2.99 8 100% 240 $718 (exactly $718) Jesus Rugarcia
Clay Puzzle $3.99 5 100% 150 $598 (exactly $598) pheniki_games
One Step Further $7.99 2 100% 60 $479 (exactly $479) SlidMount
Battle Babes 3 $14.99 1 100% 30 $450 (exactly $450) Recoil Mojo
Rotminers: Escape or Die $2.99 4 100% 120 $359 (exactly $359) X1 Studio
Foxy The First Steps $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) Fox Fabricio Branco

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