Games › RTS › RTS + Choose Your Own Adventure
Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure RTS?
RTS + Choose Your Own Adventure
Only 18 developers shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure RTS 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, Anno 117: Pax Romana, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×3.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $21M, ×14597 the market median. Revenue is up 2550% on the market; 19 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,544) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $58,461) |
| Top 5% | $22M (exactly $21,866,355) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 19 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 2550% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- RTS
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- RTS, Choose Your Own Adventure; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 71% positive over 17,723 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.6k. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + HorrorFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + SportsLong shot
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
Anno 1800 2019 · $54M 
Anno 117: Pax Romana 2025 · $22M 
Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2 2023 · $4.3M 
Hollywood Animal 2025 · EA · $2.3M 
Breakout 13 2023 · $2.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Anno 1800 | older | $59.99 | 29,854 81% | 896k | $54M (exactly $53,728,244) | Ubisoft Mainz |
| | Anno 117: Pax Romana | $59.99 | 12,150 69% | 365k | $22M (exactly $21,866,355) | Ubisoft Mainz | |
| | Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 7,206 84% | 216k | $4.3M (exactly $4,321,438) | Brilliant Game Studios |
| | Hollywood Animal | · EA | $19.99 | 3,845 73% | 115k | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) | Weappy Wholesome |
| | Breakout 13 | older | $9.99 | 6,899 87% | 207k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,630) | ALT Lab |
 | Celestial Empire | · EA | $19.99 | 709 89% | 21k | $425k (exactly $425,187) | President Studio |
 | Rise of Piracy | · EA | $15.99 | 520 77% | 16k | $249k (exactly $249,444) | IrishJohnGames |
 | PuPu's Adventure Park | $14.99 | 130 64% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,461) | 西梅树工作室 | |
 | Colonize | $9.99 | 192 39% | 5.8k | $58k (exactly $57,542) | Rembrosoft | |
 | Hero of Fate | older | $2.99 | 495 78% | 15k | $44k (exactly $44,402) | Planescape Game Studio |
 | Religion inc. | $4.99 | 128 72% | 3.8k | $19k (exactly $19,162) | GameFirst | |
 | GiLGuL | $19.99 | 19 94% | 570 | $11k (exactly $11,394) | Production Exabilities | |
 | The Great Axe | $19.99 | 13 84% | 390 | $7.8k (exactly $7,796) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Bastionforge | $9.99 | 17 76% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Gamesforgames |
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.