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Should I ship a Hack and Slash City Builder?
City Builder + Hack and Slash
Only 12 developers shipped a Hack and Slash City Builder 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, Monsters are Coming!, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.5k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $730k, ×1167 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 26 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $898 (exactly $898) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) |
| Top 25% | $288k (exactly $287,856) |
| Top 5% | $733k (exactly $733,045) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 26 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 400% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Hack and Slash
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 4,778 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 26 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + LogicFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + RacingLong shot
- + RomePoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom 2018 · $15M 
Kingdom Heroes 8 2021 · $12M 
下一站江湖Ⅱ 2024 · $6.4M 
Grand Ages: Medieval 2015 · $939k 
Monsters are Coming! 2025 · $733k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom | older | $59.99 | 8,100 82% | 243k | $15M (exactly $14,577,570) | LEVEL5 Inc. |
| | Kingdom Heroes 8 | older | $29.99 | 12,793 55% | 384k | $12M (exactly $11,509,862) | USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd. |
| | 下一站江湖Ⅱ | older | $24.99 | 8,507 72% | 255k | $6.4M (exactly $6,377,698) | 白玉京工作室 |
| | Grand Ages: Medieval | older | $19.99 | 1,565 47% | 47k | $939k (exactly $938,530) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | Monsters are Coming! | $8.99 | 2,718 79% | 82k | $733k (exactly $733,045) | Ludogram | |
 | Actraiser Renaissance | older | $29.99 | 708 74% | 21k | $637k (exactly $636,988) | Square Enix, Sonic Powered |
 | Anomaly President | · EA | $14.99 | 1,376 91% | 41k | $619k (exactly $618,787) | Phew Phew Games |
 | Castle Craft | $19.99 | 480 82% | 14k | $288k (exactly $287,856) | Twin Earth | |
 | Crystarise | · EA older | $15.99 | 248 77% | 7.4k | $119k (exactly $118,966) | YUKIUSAGI Games |
 | Smelter | older | $19.99 | 165 64% | 5.0k | $99k (exactly $98,950) | X PLUS Co., Ltd. |
 | Kingdom's Return: Time-Eating Fruit and the Ancient Monster | $14.99 | 90 52% | 2.7k | $40k (exactly $40,473) | INTI CREATES CO., LTD. | |
 | MIGLORN | $9.99 | 54 68% | 1.6k | $16k (exactly $16,184) | WuzzyWizard | |
 | Misty Land | $8.99 | 24 79% | 720 | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) | Branches Games | |
 | Crypt Keeper | $9.99 | 20 100% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Viron Games | |
 | Knights of Conquest: Feudal Shenanigans Galore | · EA | $11.99 | 10 80% | 300 | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) | ES Galore |
 | Paddle Protectors | $5.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $898 (exactly $898) | Huhi Games | |
 | SurrounDead Poly Japan Sakura | · EA | $15.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $480 (exactly $480) | LivingEveryday |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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