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Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Colony Sim?
Colony Sim + Dark Fantasy
Only 17 developers shipped a Dark-Fantasy Colony Sim 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, Worshippers of Cthulhu, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 51 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $33k, ×52 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $11k; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×1558 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 51 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $11k (exactly $10,793) |
|---|---|
| Median | $33k (exactly $32,922) |
| Top 25% | $233k (exactly $233,283) |
| Top 5% | $978k (exactly $978,358) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 29 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Colony Sim
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Dark Fantasy
- 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
- Colony Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Building, Simulation
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 4,468 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $11k. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Colony Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + 4XPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
ASKA 2024 · EA · $7.8M 
Spellcaster University 2021 · $2.6M 
Gord 2023 · $1.2M 
Worshippers of Cthulhu 2025 · $978k 
Dungeon Settlers 2026 · EA · $837k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ASKA | · EA older | $24.99 | 10,457 79% | 314k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,613) | Sand Sailor Studio |
| | Spellcaster University | older | $24.99 | 3,424 83% | 103k | $2.6M (exactly $2,566,973) | Sneaky Yak Studio |
| | Gord | older | $49.99 | 809 53% | 24k | $1.2M (exactly $1,213,257) | Covenant.dev |
| | Worshippers of Cthulhu | $24.99 | 1,305 80% | 39k | $978k (exactly $978,358) | Crazy Goat Games | |
| | Dungeon Settlers | · EA | $24.99 | 1,117 79% | 34k | $837k (exactly $837,415) | CanOpener |
 | DarkSwitch | $34.99 | 714 77% | 21k | $749k (exactly $749,486) | Cyber Temple | |
 | Ark of Charon | $24.99 | 389 75% | 12k | $292k (exactly $291,633) | Angoo Inc., SUNSOFT | |
 | Regions of Ruin: Runegate | $19.99 | 389 84% | 12k | $233k (exactly $233,283) | Gameclaw Studio | |
 | Grim Realms | older | $14.99 | 408 79% | 12k | $183k (exactly $183,478) | Edym Pixels |
 | SCP Strategy | older | $6.99 | 556 78% | 17k | $117k (exactly $116,593) | LUXO Interactive |
 | Demon Castle Story | $12.99 | 257 77% | 7.7k | $100k (exactly $100,153) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd | |
 | Outland Kingdoms | · EA | $24.99 | 72 73% | 2.2k | $54k (exactly $53,978) | GBL |
 | Project Afterfall | · EA | $19.99 | 80 75% | 2.4k | $48k (exactly $47,976) | MuHa Games, Eerie Forest Studio |
 | Genesis of a Small God | $17.99 | 61 80% | 1.8k | $33k (exactly $32,922) | Pierre Nury | |
 | The Deadly Path | $12.99 | 84 39% | 2.5k | $33k (exactly $32,735) | Owlskip Enterprises |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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