Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Automation game?

Automation + Grid-Based Movement

Of 28 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Automation 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.. 26 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 130% on the market; 26 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 130% on the market, 26 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Grid-Based Movement
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: $239 → $6.0k → $538 → $2.9k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $959 (exactly $959)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,594)
Top 5% $24k (exactly $23,676)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 49
Announced 26
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 130% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Automation, Grid-Based Movement; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Resource Management, Strategy
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 313 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $960, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $23k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds36 devs · median $57k · 31 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistStrong odds27 devs · median $4.5k · 32 announced
  3. + Open World Survival CraftFair28 devs · median $307k · 37 announced
  4. + HorrorFair19 devs · median $8.0k · 29 announced
  5. + HistoricalFair26 devs · median $7.9k · 24 announced
  6. + UndergroundFair20 devs · median $7.4k · 32 announced
  7. + Class-BasedFair19 devs · median $6.6k · 22 announced
  8. + MiningFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  9. + Auto BattlerFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  10. + ProgrammingFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  11. + FishingFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  12. + Turn-Based TacticsFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced

All 135 pairs on the Automation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Icaria 2026 · $59k Sokobond Express 2024 · $38k Chronomon 2025 · EA · $24k CHR$(143) 2021 · $18k Meet me at NooN 2022 · $16k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Icaria $24.99 79 75% 2.4k $59k (exactly $59,226) Blindsight Games LLC
Sokobond Express older $14.99 84 90% 2.5k $38k (exactly $37,775) José Hernández, Draknek & Friends
Chronomon · EA $9.99 79 83% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,676) Stone Golem Studios
CHR$(143) older $7.99 75 96% 2.3k $18k (exactly $17,978) Nicolas Jean
Meet me at NooN older $9.99 55 100% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) Pandaroo Interactive
Warp Factory older $9.99 47 93% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,086) Milo Brandt
Trails $9.99 20 100% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) PurpleSloth
Proto Garden $14.99 13 100% 390 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) arreyne
Goblins Can Conquer $6.99 27 59% 810 $5.7k (exactly $5,662) starea
SirKwitz 2 $8.99 14 100% 420 $3.8k (exactly $3,776) Predict Edumedia
Truck City $5.99 20 80% 600 $3.6k (exactly $3,594) Mikel Fernandez
Upalu Mundi $7.99 13 100% 390 $3.1k (exactly $3,116) True Baboons
Pathways & Poltergeists $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) Wise Goose Games
The Board is Yours $2.50 38 97% 1.1k $2.9k (exactly $2,850) Draelent

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