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Should I ship a Turn-Based Strategy City Builder?
City Builder + Turn-Based Strategy
Of 93 developers who shipped a Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 122 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.3k, ×5.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1152 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 122 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $27,432) |
| Top 5% | $723k (exactly $723,238) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 93 |
| Released games | 221 |
| Announced | 122 |
| 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 down 70% on the market, supply 15% 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 Strategy
- 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, Turn-Based Strategy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 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 $9.99.
The top 10 games average 56% positive over 57,396 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 122 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI 2016 · $497M 
Sid Meier's Civilization VII 2025 · $94M 
HUMANKIND™ 2021 · $33M 
Dorfromantik 2022 · $12M 
A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA 2018 · $7.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI | older | $59.99 | 276,113 86% | 8.3M | $497M (exactly $496,920,566) | Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | Sid Meier's Civilization VII | $69.99 | 44,789 48% | 1.3M | $94M (exactly $94,043,463) | Firaxis Games | |
| | HUMANKIND™ | older | $49.99 | 22,165 68% | 665k | $33M (exactly $33,240,850) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | Dorfromantik | older | $13.99 | 27,441 96% | 823k | $12M (exactly $11,516,988) | Toukana Interactive |
| | A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA | older | $19.99 | 12,326 70% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,391,902) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
 | Terra Nil | older | $24.99 | 8,035 87% | 241k | $6.0M (exactly $6,023,840) | Free Lives, Clockwork Acorn |
 | Age of Wonders: Planetfall | older | $29.99 | 4,758 80% | 143k | $4.3M (exactly $4,280,773) | Triumph Studios |
 | Ara History Untold: Anniversary Edition | $49.99 | 2,141 68% | 64k | $3.2M (exactly $3,210,858) | Oxide Games | |
 | ISLANDERS | older | $4.99 | 16,104 94% | 483k | $2.4M (exactly $2,410,769) | Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Stu… (Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Studios) |
 | Nordhold | $19.99 | 2,875 87% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,724,137) | StunForge | |
 | Border Pioneer | $14.99 | 1,675 86% | 50k | $753k (exactly $753,248) | Yahzj Games | |
 | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
 | Blackthorn Arena: Reforged | $24.99 | 882 66% | 26k | $661k (exactly $661,235) | PersonaeGame Studio | |
 | Combolands: Roguelike Citybuilder | $9.99 | 1,244 97% | 37k | $373k (exactly $372,827) | Crux Games | |
 | ISLANDERS: New Shores | $9.99 | 1,230 96% | 37k | $369k (exactly $368,631) | The Station | |
 | Dawnfolk | $14.99 | 664 94% | 20k | $299k (exactly $298,601) | Darenn Keller | |
 | Preserve | $12.49 | 690 92% | 21k | $259k (exactly $258,543) | Bitmap Galaxy |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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