Do I ship it?

GamesAction RTSAction RTS + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Action RTS?

Action RTS + Puzzle

Only 16 developers shipped a Puzzle Action RTS in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Philna Fantasy, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced.

Verdict: long shot, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $590, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, but 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×143 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 16 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $27k → $1.7k → $899 → $7.6k → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $594 (exactly $594)
Top 25% $7.6k (exactly $7,645)
Top 5% $215k (exactly $214,507)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 48
Announced 16
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

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 down 20% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Action RTS, Puzzle
Price point
$8.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 57% positive over 595 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $590, 1 in 4 over $7.6k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Auto BattlerFair24 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  2. + FPSLong shot16 devs · median $899 · 21 announced
  3. + Turn-Based StrategyPoor odds12 devs · median $85k · 16 announced
  4. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds9 devs · median $85k · 18 announced
  5. + Real-TimePoor odds12 devs · median $31k · 18 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds26 devs · median $29k · 57 announced
  7. + Online Co-OpPoor odds25 devs · median $18k · 54 announced
  8. + SandboxPoor odds30 devs · median $13k · 50 announced
  9. + Procedural GenerationPoor odds22 devs · median $11k · 51 announced
  10. + Grand StrategyPoor odds25 devs · median $7.5k · 41 announced
  11. + 4XPoor odds10 devs · median $7.2k · 23 announced
  12. + CraftingPoor odds19 devs · median $7.2k · 35 announced

All 89 pairs on the Action RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Philna Fantasy $14.99 477 52% 14k $215k (exactly $214,507) Sailike Game
Stargate: Timekeepers older $29.99 198 60% 5.9k $178k (exactly $178,141) Slitherine Ltd.
Multiwinia older $11.99 409 82% 12k $147k (exactly $147,117) Introversion Software
KallaX older $9.99 278 84% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Unexpected
The Unexpected Quest older $12.99 166 77% 5.0k $65k (exactly $64,690) Rionix
Siren's Well $24.99 62 66% 1.9k $46k (exactly $46,481) OneManOnly Studios
扫雷冒险谭2 ~露露姆的冒险~ older $9.99 92 78% 2.8k $28k (exactly $27,572) CelLab
erozld older $14.99 61 50% 1.8k $27k (exactly $27,432) 88Danuki
Byte Lynx older $9.99 74 97% 2.2k $22k (exactly $22,178) Artful Games
X-POINT · EA older $19.99 32 78% 960 $19k (exactly $19,190) Andrey Scanarri (Scanarri)
Bullet: Surge $15.99 18 94% 540 $8.6k (exactly $8,635) Cerbere Games
Spires of Morosith: Gossamer Sundered $14.99 17 76% 510 $7.6k (exactly $7,645) Dead Yeti Clown Car
PicoMix by NuSan $6.99 7 100% 210 $1.5k (exactly $1,468) NuSan, Potico Games
Capitalist Misadventures $7.99 4 75% 120 $959 (exactly $959) Caramelo Studios
Going Loco $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) David Addis
Zombie Self-Cultivation $9.90 2 50% 60 $594 (exactly $594) LangBubai
Tommy's Journal $7.99 2 100% 60 $479 (exactly $479) Tanner Donaldson
Gun Predict $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Gabry Corti

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