Games › Real-Time with Pause › Real-Time with Pause + Colony Sim
Should I ship a Colony Sim Real-Time with Pause game?
Real-Time with Pause + Colony Sim
Only 11 developers shipped a Colony Sim Real-Time with Pause game 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, Diplomacy is Not an Option, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $73k, ×49 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $27k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.8M, ×6549 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 21 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $26k (exactly $26,258) |
|---|---|
| Median | $73k (exactly $73,163) |
| Top 25% | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,324) |
| Top 5% | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $19.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 900% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Real-Time with Pause
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Colony Sim
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Real-Time with Pause, Colony Sim
- Price point
- $19.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 18,177 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $27k. 21 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with Pause with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + CombatStrong odds
- + ActionFair
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
- + Choices MatterPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
Comparable games
Frostpunk 2018 · $103M 
They Are Billions 2019 · $42M 
Diplomacy is Not an Option 2024 · $9.8M 
The Universim 2024 · $7.6M 
Flotsam 2025 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Frostpunk | older | $29.99 | 114,376 92% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,904,087) | 11 bit studios |
| | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
| | Diplomacy is Not an Option | $29.99 | 10,904 85% | 327k | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) | Door 407 | |
| | The Universim | older | $29.99 | 8,465 79% | 254k | $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) | Crytivo |
| | Flotsam | $24.99 | 4,308 80% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) | Pajama Llama Games | |
 | New Cycle | · EA older | $29.99 | 2,597 78% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,336,521) | Core Engage |
 | Industries of Titan | older | $29.99 | 1,553 61% | 47k | $1.4M (exactly $1,397,234) | Brace Yourself Games |
 | Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation | older | $19.99 | 2,106 80% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,262,968) | Suncrash |
 | Another Brick in The Mall | older | $16.99 | 2,340 83% | 70k | $1.2M (exactly $1,192,698) | The Quadsphere |
 | Laysara: Summit Kingdom | $24.99 | 1,421 80% | 43k | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,324) | Quite OK Games | |
 | Airborne Empire | $29.99 | 852 86% | 26k | $767k (exactly $766,544) | The Wandering Band LLC | |
 | Here Comes The Swarm | · EA | $19.99 | 358 84% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | CableHook Games |
 | Repterra | $19.99 | 122 90% | 3.7k | $73k (exactly $73,163) | Chute Apps | |
 | Space Drilling Station | · EA | $19.99 | 63 90% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $37,781) | Ayota Games |
 | Crownbound - Fantasy Kingdom Sim | $11.99 | 73 47% | 2.2k | $26k (exactly $26,258) | Bart Mamzer | |
 | Ranchbound | · EA | $17.99 | 44 50% | 1.3k | $24k (exactly $23,747) | Eldersong Games |
 | Deep Space Outpost | $15.99 | 32 71% | 960 | $15k (exactly $15,350) | Niris Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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