Do I ship it?

GamesBuildingBuilding + Political Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Political Sim?

Building + Political Sim

Of 37 developers who shipped a Building Political Sim 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.. 83 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 $9.6k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×2327 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 83 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.3 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 83 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Political Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $24k → $67k → $34k → $52k → $599 → $21k (still earning) → $3.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Political Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $1.1k (exactly $1,078)
Median $9.6k (exactly $9,590)
Top 25% $52k (exactly $52,148)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 94
Announced 83
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 flat on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Political Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Building, Political Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Strategy, Simulation
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $32.00 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $32.00 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 69% positive over 7,667 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.1k, median $9.6k, 1 in 4 over $52k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 6 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

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. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WorldBox - God Simulator · EA older $19.99 51,071 95% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,627,279) Maxim Karpenko
Tropico 6 older $39.99 19,837 88% 595k $24M (exactly $23,798,449) Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios
Tropico 4 older $14.99 8,211 91% 246k $3.7M (exactly $3,692,487) Haemimont Games
MEMORIAPOLIS $32.00 1,752 75% 53k $1.7M (exactly $1,681,920) 5PM Studio
Anno 1404 - History Edition older $14.99 3,454 82% 104k $1.6M (exactly $1,553,264) Ubisoft Mainz
Ascension · EA $19.99 2,437 60% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) Element Game 微元游戏
TheoTown older $9.99 4,631 94% 139k $1.4M (exactly $1,387,911) Lobby Divinus
NIMBY Rails · EA older $19.99 2,228 89% 67k $1.3M (exactly $1,336,132) Weird and Wry
Power & Revolution 2020 Edition older $49.99 769 63% 23k $1.2M (exactly $1,153,269) Eversim
Honey, I Joined a Cult older $25.99 1,380 73% 41k $1.1M (exactly $1,075,986) Sole Survivor Games
Geo-Political Simulator 5 $59.99 391 34% 12k $704k (exactly $703,683) Eversim
Mandate Order · EA $19.99 1,110 81% 33k $666k (exactly $665,667) Digital Sky
Geo-Political Simulator 2026 Edition $59.99 249 48% 7.5k $448k (exactly $448,125) Eversim
Realpolitiks 3: Earth and Beyond $24.99 253 39% 7.6k $190k (exactly $189,674) Jujubee
Astrobuilder $14.99 350 88% 11k $157k (exactly $157,395) wastudio
Pandora's Toybox $9.99 372 83% 11k $111k (exactly $111,488) BetaLab
Life Inc. · EA $19.99 154 88% 4.6k $92k (exactly $92,354) Sergio Garcia
Technotopia $4.99 599 86% 18k $90k (exactly $89,670) Yustas

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