Games › Colony Sim › Colony Sim + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Colony Sim?
Colony Sim + Fantasy
Of 73 developers who shipped a Fantasy Colony Sim 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.. 194 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 $4.5k, ×7.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×3495 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 194 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $839 (exactly $839) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) |
| Top 25% | $111k (exactly $111,488) |
| Top 5% | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,686) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 73 |
| Released games | 196 |
| Announced | 194 |
| 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 up 90% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Fantasy
- 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
- Colony Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Base Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 21,301 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 6 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 194 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 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
Cult of the Lamb 2022 · $84M 
WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M 
Dwarf Fortress 2022 · $26M 
Kingdom Two Crowns 2018 · $19M 
Amazing Cultivation Simulator 2020 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cult of the Lamb | older | $24.99 | 112,096 95% | 3.4M | $84M (exactly $84,038,371) | Massive Monster |
| | WorldBox - God Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 51,071 95% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,627,279) | Maxim Karpenko |
| | Dwarf Fortress | older | $29.99 | 29,303 94% | 879k | $26M (exactly $26,363,909) | Bay 12 Games |
| | Kingdom Two Crowns | older | $19.99 | 31,259 90% | 938k | $19M (exactly $18,746,022) | Fury Studios, Coatsink |
| | Amazing Cultivation Simulator | older | $24.99 | 19,111 85% | 573k | $14M (exactly $14,327,517) | GSQ Games |
 | Craft The World | older | $18.99 | 15,074 88% | 452k | $8.6M (exactly $8,587,658) | Dekovir Entertainment, Sibear Games |
 | Songs of Syx | · EA older | $24.99 | 8,842 94% | 265k | $6.6M (exactly $6,628,847) | Gamatron AB |
 | Stonehearth | older | $19.99 | 10,652 76% | 320k | $6.4M (exactly $6,388,004) | Radiant Entertainment |
 | War for the Overworld | older | $29.99 | 6,495 85% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) | Brightrock Games |
 | Pioneers of Pagonia | $34.99 | 4,794 81% | 144k | $5.0M (exactly $5,032,262) | Envision Entertainment | |
 | Mind Over Magic | $24.99 | 4,314 86% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,234,206) | Sparkypants | |
 | Becastled | $19.99 | 5,349 81% | 160k | $3.2M (exactly $3,207,795) | Mana Potion Studios | |
 | Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim | $24.90 | 2,938 77% | 88k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,686) | Rockbee Team | |
 | Airborne Empire | $29.99 | 852 86% | 26k | $767k (exactly $766,544) | The Wandering Band LLC | |
 | Gold Gold Adventure Gold | $24.99 | 907 70% | 27k | $680k (exactly $679,978) | Can Can Can a Man | |
 | Synergy | $24.99 | 693 79% | 21k | $520k (exactly $519,542) | Leikir Studio | |
 | Exogate Initiative | $24.99 | 691 75% | 21k | $518k (exactly $518,043) | Xeno Bits | |
 | Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown | $27.99 | 374 54% | 11k | $314k (exactly $314,048) | Zugalu Entertainment | |
 | Ark of Charon | $24.99 | 389 75% | 12k | $292k (exactly $291,633) | Angoo Inc., SUNSOFT |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.