Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Grid-Based Movement game?

Building + Grid-Based Movement

Of 50 developers who shipped a Building 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.. 57 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 57 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 57 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Grid-Based Movement
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 50
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.9k → $11k → $1.8k → $5.8k → $719 → $597 → $3.0k (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 50
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,116)
Top 5% $59k (exactly $59,226)
Developers, 2 yr 50
Released games 124
Announced 57
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 25% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Building, Grid-Based Movement; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, City Builder, Simulation
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,035 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $720, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $59k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  5. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  6. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  7. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  10. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  11. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds32 devs · median $51k · 75 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Tiny Tactics 2022 · $198k GRIDROAD 2024 · $115k Drag and Drop Medieval 2024 · $82k Mythmatch 2026 · $74k Icaria 2026 · $59k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tiny Tactics older $9.99 661 82% 20k $198k (exactly $198,102) Tiny Forge Gaming
GRIDROAD $9.99 385 82% 12k $115k (exactly $115,384) RAJACORP
Drag and Drop Medieval older $29.99 91 85% 2.7k $82k (exactly $81,873) Galactic Geckon
Mythmatch $19.99 124 98% 3.7k $74k (exactly $74,363) Team Artichoke
Icaria $24.99 79 75% 2.4k $59k (exactly $59,226) Blindsight Games LLC
Machinefall $14.99 119 82% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,514) by Jan Zizka
Digs TD older $19.99 76 67% 2.3k $46k (exactly $45,577) Digs Team
Chuck's Challenge 3D 2020 older $9.99 147 81% 4.4k $44k (exactly $44,056) Niffler Ltd.
Toads of the Bayou $9.99 137 72% 4.1k $41k (exactly $41,059) La Grange
Can't Live Without Electricity older $4.99 229 94% 6.9k $34k (exactly $34,281) MELOVITY
A Little Age $14.99 61 62% 1.8k $27k (exactly $27,432) Benerot
Chronomon · EA $9.99 79 83% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,676) Stone Golem Studios
Trackastrophe! $8.99 29 100% 870 $7.8k (exactly $7,821) Kinoko Studio
Exipelago $24.99 9 66% 270 $6.7k (exactly $6,747) reiti.net
Proto Garden $14.99 13 100% 390 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) arreyne

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