Games › Turn-Based Strategy › Turn-Based Strategy + Capitalism
Should I ship a Capitalist Turn-Based Strategy?
Turn-Based Strategy + Capitalism
Of 58 developers who shipped a Capitalist Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 107 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×170 the market median. Revenue is up 330% on the market; 107 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,348) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,086) |
| Top 5% | $107k (exactly $107,024) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 58 |
| Released games | 112 |
| Announced | 107 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 330% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Capitalism
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Strategy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Resource Management, Management
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 68% positive over 2,318 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 9 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 107 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaFair
- + Cold WarFair
- + RomeFair
- + LootFair
- + MiningFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + TanksFair
- + SokobanFair
- + Top-Down ShooterFair
- + SpaceFair
Comparable games
Democracy 4 2022 · $5.3M 
Turmoil 2016 · $5.1M 
Democracy 3 2013 · $4.7M 
Total War: PHARAOH 2023 · $3.3M 
City of Gangsters 2021 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Democracy 4 | older | $29.99 | 5,891 81% | 177k | $5.3M (exactly $5,300,133) | Positech Games |
| | Turmoil | older | $12.99 | 13,154 92% | 395k | $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) | Gamious |
| | Democracy 3 | older | $24.99 | 6,245 73% | 187k | $4.7M (exactly $4,681,876) | Positech Games |
| | Total War: PHARAOH | older | $29.99 | 3,622 63% | 109k | $3.3M (exactly $3,258,713) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY |
| | City of Gangsters | older | $29.99 | 1,332 73% | 40k | $1.2M (exactly $1,198,400) | SomaSim |
 | GearCity | older | $19.99 | 1,417 89% | 43k | $850k (exactly $849,775) | Visual Entertainment And Technologies |
 | Timeflow – Life Sim | · EA older | $14.99 | 1,379 91% | 41k | $620k (exactly $620,136) | Digital Geckos |
 | Evil Bank Manager | older | $11.99 | 1,663 76% | 50k | $598k (exactly $598,181) | Hamsters Gaming |
 | NEW MONOPOLY® | $29.99 | 531 36% | 16k | $478k (exactly $477,741) | UBISOFT, Engine Software | |
 | Lawgivers II | · EA older | $24.99 | 565 73% | 17k | $424k (exactly $423,580) | Damian Bernardi |
 | Insider Trading | $12.89 | 600 79% | 18k | $232k (exactly $232,020) | Naiive | |
 | Black Gold - Shining Town | $13.99 | 255 80% | 7.7k | $107k (exactly $107,024) | Morexingame | |
 | Another Farm Roguelike: Rebirth | $6.99 | 433 69% | 13k | $91k (exactly $90,800) | Zabbo Games | |
 | High Seas, High Profits! | $14.99 | 165 86% | 5.0k | $74k (exactly $74,200) | lexy.zip | |
 | Imperial Ambitions | $19.99 | 101 81% | 3.0k | $61k (exactly $60,570) | aoiti | |
 | Hollywood Mogul 4 | $19.99 | 49 71% | 1.5k | $29k (exactly $29,385) | HMdesigner | |
 | ColdRidge | $9.99 | 97 73% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $29,071) | Frog Collective | |
 | SELF MADE: Investment Life Sim | $14.99 | 52 84% | 1.6k | $23k (exactly $23,384) | Billmeade Gaming | |
 | Family Office Simulator | · EA | $19.99 | 35 91% | 1.1k | $21k (exactly $20,990) | Vitalis Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.