Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical › Tactical + Collectathon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Collectathon Tactical game?

Tactical + Collectathon

Of 35 developers who shipped a Collectathon Tactical game 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.. 51 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 21 developers shipped in the last year and 51 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 500% on the market, 51 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Collectathon
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 35
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.2k → $1.3k → $2.5k → $750 → $150 → $449 → $600 (still earning) → $628 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Collectathon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 35
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $298 (exactly $298)
Top 25% $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 5% $4.4M (exactly $4,402,111)
Developers, 2 yr 35
Released games 95
Announced 51
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 up 500% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Collectathon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Puzzle, Hidden Object
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 37,205 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.6k, 1 in 20 over $4.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road 2025 · $23M Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! 2026 · $4.4M Crystal Project 2022 · $1.1M Shelves and Sorcery: Tidy Up the Enchanted Shop 2026 · $113k Backrooms Cats and Lava 2024 · $94k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road $69.99 11,180 88% 335k $23M (exactly $23,474,646) LEVEL5 Inc.
Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! $5.99 24,497 94% 735k $4.4M (exactly $4,402,111) ArtRising
Crystal Project older $13.99 2,510 91% 75k $1.1M (exactly $1,053,447) Andrew Willman
Shelves and Sorcery: Tidy Up the Enchanted Shop $5.99 627 93% 19k $113k (exactly $112,672) Teddy Bear Games LLC
Backrooms Cats and Lava older $29.99 105 79% 3.2k $94k (exactly $94,468) Galactic Geckon
Dragon Spirits older $9.99 289 86% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,613) FHNBHJ
TV Archive: Tidy Up Together $4.99 544 71% 16k $81k (exactly $81,437) Games Together
BARRICADEZ older $18.99 117 78% 3.5k $67k (exactly $66,655) Fly Penguin inc.
Dragon Spirits 2 older $13.99 137 84% 4.1k $57k (exactly $57,499) FHNBHJ
Mall: Tidy Up Together $4.99 243 69% 7.3k $36k (exactly $36,377) Games Together
Schoolgirl Card Pull Simulator $6.99 34 61% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) Violet Soft
Cascadou $10.99 21 100% 630 $6.9k (exactly $6,924) Mattis Folkestad
Post Office: Tidy Up! $4.99 26 80% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) Mao Den Games
Package Piles: Tidy Up The Warehouse! $4.99 22 95% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) Spectra Forge
Number Stomper $4.99 11 100% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) James Castle

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.