Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Artificial Intelligence

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an AI Grid-Based Movement game?

Grid-Based Movement + Artificial Intelligence

Of 20 developers who shipped an AI Grid-Based Movement 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.. 24 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $120 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 14 developers shipped in the last year and 24 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 24 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Artificial Intelligence
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $597 → $719 → $120 → $0 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Artificial Intelligence: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $120 (exactly $120)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,336)
Top 5% $54k (exactly $53,514)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 69
Announced 24
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 135% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Artificial Intelligence
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Grid-Based Movement; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, Board Game
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 193 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 $120, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $53k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HistoricalFair22 devs · median $3.0k · 30 announced
  2. + EconomyFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced
  3. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $959 · 26 announced
  4. + MiningFair12 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair17 devs · median $809 · 17 announced
  6. + BuildingFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  7. + HackingFair14 devs · median $719 · 11 announced
  8. + SokobanFair143 devs · median $657 · 135 announced
  9. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  10. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  11. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 announced
  12. + Puzzle PlatformerFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced

All 126 pairs on the Grid-Based Movement page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Machinefall 2026 · $54k Red Ronin 2021 · $29k ALAN-13 Reformation 2022 · $16k ChessCraft 2021 · $15k Stratego® Online 2026 · $9.0k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Machinefall $14.99 119 82% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,514) by Jan Zizka
Red Ronin older $7.99 119 87% 3.6k $29k (exactly $28,524) Wired Dreams Studio
ALAN-13 Reformation older $15.99 34 82% 1.0k $16k (exactly $16,310) Viktor Kovács
ChessCraft older $5.99 81 96% 2.4k $15k (exactly $14,556) Stuart Spence
Stratego® Online $11.99 25 96% 750 $9.0k (exactly $8,992) Wanted 5 Games
Mouse Hunter older $9.99 17 70% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) Stas Paty9mkin
3D Hentai Chess older $1.99 81 50% 2.4k $4.8k (exactly $4,836) Flying. Stone. Production
Kitty Tactics older $3.99 30 86% 900 $3.6k (exactly $3,591) Ibe Denaux
Shogi $7.99 14 71% 420 $3.4k (exactly $3,356) Popoko VM Games
Full Gear older $4.99 19 100% 570 $2.8k (exactly $2,844) Dieuwt
Twilight of Bronze $15.00 6 100% 180 $2.7k (exactly $2,700) NonAverageStudio
Dungeon of Calibris: Demon Orb $5.99 13 84% 390 $2.3k (exactly $2,336) Dalex Software Planning
Baduk Challenge (Go Challenge) $10.99 4 50% 120 $1.3k (exactly $1,319) OH YU HWAN
Disintegral $11.99 2 100% 60 $719 (exactly $719) Will Sykes Games
Chess Ilmir $2.99 7 14% 210 $628 (exactly $628) Ilmir Nasertdinov
DoomWall $2.99 2 100% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Berlingot D'Or
Warp Dash $3.99 1 0% 30 $120 (exactly $120) Adweb

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