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Should I ship a Turn-Based Combat City Builder?
City Builder + Turn-Based Combat
Of 24 developers who shipped a Turn-Based Combat City Builder 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.. 42 more are announced, ×4.2 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 $720; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×209 the market median. Revenue is up 315% on the market; 42 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) |
| Top 25% | $50k (exactly $50,192) |
| Top 5% | $131k (exactly $131,334) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 315% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Turn-Based Combat
- 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
- City Builder, Turn-Based Combat; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Exploration, Management
- Price point
- $11.99 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 $11.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 1,974 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 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
Port Royale 4 2020 · $1.7M 
Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian 2025 · $1.3M 
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes 2013 · $1.2M 
Master of Magic 2022 · $1.2M 
Ozymandias: Bronze Age Empire Sim 2022 · $587k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Port Royale 4 | older | $39.99 | 1,405 56% | 42k | $1.7M (exactly $1,685,578) | Gaming Minds |
| | Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian | $59.99 | 714 89% | 21k | $1.3M (exactly $1,284,986) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes | older | $24.99 | 1,655 78% | 50k | $1.2M (exactly $1,240,754) | Stardock Entertainment |
| | Master of Magic | older | $39.99 | 1,023 71% | 31k | $1.2M (exactly $1,227,293) | MuHa Games, Eerie Forest Studio |
| | Ozymandias: Bronze Age Empire Sim | older | $14.99 | 1,306 89% | 39k | $587k (exactly $587,308) | The Secret Games Company |
 | Rising Lords | older | $19.99 | 904 70% | 27k | $542k (exactly $542,129) | Argonwood |
 | Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~ | older | $59.99 | 236 77% | 7.1k | $425k (exactly $424,729) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Dust to the End | older | $11.99 | 1,076 78% | 32k | $387k (exactly $387,037) | Haojoy Game, Zjoy Game |
 | Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder | older | $19.99 | 244 61% | 7.3k | $146k (exactly $146,327) | Black Eye Games |
 | Yield! Fall of Rome | $19.99 | 219 69% | 6.6k | $131k (exactly $131,334) | Billionworlds | |
 | EcoGnomix | $19.99 | 216 74% | 6.5k | $130k (exactly $129,535) | Irox Games | |
 | 九州：立志 | $11.99 | 235 81% | 7.1k | $85k (exactly $84,530) | Xbgzs | |
 | Kaya's Prophecy | $13.99 | 196 70% | 5.9k | $82k (exactly $82,261) | Jérémie & Thibaut | |
 | Edge Islands | · EA | $17.99 | 93 74% | 2.8k | $50k (exactly $50,192) | LS Games |
 | Toads of the Bayou | $9.99 | 137 72% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,059) | La Grange | |
 | 仙之气 | · EA | $10.99 | 114 74% | 3.4k | $38k (exactly $37,586) | 按键工坊 |
 | Automatic Kingdom | $12.99 | 28 75% | 840 | $11k (exactly $10,912) | Matthew Pontarolo | |
 | TownsFolk | $11.99 | 22 81% | 660 | $7.9k (exactly $7,913) | Short Circuit Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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