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Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Base Building game?
Base Building + Grid-Based Movement
Of 30 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Base Building 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.. 68 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $53k, ×85 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 68 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) |
| Top 5% | $54k (exactly $53,514) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 67 |
| Announced | 68 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Grid-Based Movement; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Resource Management, Building
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 641 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
King Arthur: Knight's Tale 2022 · $9.1M 
Queen's Wish: The Conqueror 2019 · $166k 
Icaria 2026 · $59k 
Queen's Wish 2: The Tormentor 2022 · $59k 
Machinefall 2026 · $54k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | King Arthur: Knight's Tale | older | $44.99 | 6,722 83% | 202k | $9.1M (exactly $9,072,683) | NeocoreGames |
| | Queen's Wish: The Conqueror | older | $19.99 | 276 80% | 8.3k | $166k (exactly $165,517) | Spiderweb Software |
| | Icaria | $24.99 | 79 75% | 2.4k | $59k (exactly $59,226) | Blindsight Games LLC | |
| | Queen's Wish 2: The Tormentor | older | $24.99 | 79 87% | 2.4k | $59k (exactly $59,226) | Spiderweb Software |
| | Machinefall | $14.99 | 119 82% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $53,514) | by Jan Zizka | |
 | Toads of the Bayou | $9.99 | 137 72% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,059) | La Grange | |
 | Chrysalis | $9.99 | 118 84% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,365) | Metamorph Games | |
 | Tactical Annihilation | $15.99 | 56 98% | 1.7k | $27k (exactly $26,863) | B.G. Game Studio | |
 | Astro Protocol | $11.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $24k (exactly $23,740) | Null Vector Studios | |
 | Block Tower TD | older | $4.99 | 88 85% | 2.6k | $13k (exactly $13,174) | MyDreamForever, Tazdraperm |
 | Areteion | $19.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | juxtapositioned | |
 | Proto Garden | $14.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) | arreyne | |
 | Hidden Pass | $9.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) | GG Interactive, GG Studio | |
 | Truck City | $5.99 | 20 80% | 600 | $3.6k (exactly $3,594) | Mikel Fernandez |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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