Games › Destruction › Destruction + Choices Matter
Should I ship a Choices Matter Destruction game?
Destruction + Choices Matter
Only 13 developers shipped a Choices Matter Destruction game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, NAPOLEON: RULE OF IRON, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 53 more are announced, ×7.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $89. 53 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.6 per shipper, while revenue is down 90% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $89 (exactly $89) |
|---|---|
| Median | $420 (exactly $420) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,794) |
| Top 5% | $13k (exactly $13,193) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 49 |
| Announced | 53 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 down 90% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Destruction
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Destruction, Choices Matter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 74 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Destruction with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Space SimFair
- + ModernFair
- + God GameFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + CapitalismPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Automobile SimPoor odds
- + ManagementPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
Tropico 6 2019 · $24M 
Gas Station Simulator 2021 · $14M 
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance 2024 · $14M 
Dawn of Man 2019 · $13M 
Stranded: Alien Dawn 2023 · $10M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tropico 6 | older | $39.99 | 19,837 88% | 595k | $24M (exactly $23,798,449) | Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios |
| | Gas Station Simulator | older | $19.99 | 23,839 88% | 715k | $14M (exactly $14,296,248) | DRAGO entertainment |
| | Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance | older | $59.99 | 7,858 91% | 236k | $14M (exactly $14,142,043) | ATLUS |
| | Dawn of Man | older | $24.99 | 17,094 86% | 513k | $13M (exactly $12,815,372) | Madruga Works |
| | Stranded: Alien Dawn | older | $34.99 | 9,715 84% | 291k | $10M (exactly $10,197,836) | Haemimont Games |
 | Total Conflict: Resistance | · EA older | $29.99 | 5,089 74% | 153k | $4.6M (exactly $4,578,573) | Thunder Devs. |
 | Electrician Simulator | older | $17.99 | 4,061 80% | 122k | $2.2M (exactly $2,191,722) | Take IT Studio! |
 | I Am Your President | older | $14.99 | 263 66% | 7.9k | $118k (exactly $118,271) | President |
 | Jester / King | older | $15.99 | 85 94% | 2.6k | $41k (exactly $40,774) | Rolling Crown |
 | NAPOLEON: RULE OF IRON | $19.99 | 22 90% | 660 | $13k (exactly $13,193) | Eisengeist Studio | |
 | Ravager - Moon-Friendly Edition | · EA | $19.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) | 4MinuteWarning |
 | ULTIMATE ARMORED TURBODRIFTER ~ SaGa Chapter 2 ~【TANK AUTHORITY WOLFRAM】 | $4.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | The Dark Union | |
 | Balls Crush Simulator | $2.99 | 20 80% | 600 | $1.8k (exactly $1,794) | BEST SIMULATORS CORP | |
 | Gravity Break | · EA | $13.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $839 (exactly $839) | bakspace interactive, Kristian Bak, Dan… (bakspace interactive, Kristian Bak, Daniel Clifton, Nanna Fjord) |
 | The Minesweeper | $4.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $599 (exactly $599) | Stephan Royer | |
 | Poly Kingdom: Siege | · EA | $13.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $420 (exactly $420) | Mason Brignac |
 | Mother Bunker VR | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Rook Gaming, LLC | |
 | Chaebol Chaos | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | Maksim Nosov, Dmitry Nosov | |
 | EasterStory | $0.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $89 (exactly $89) | Fire In Crowd |
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.