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Should I ship a Tower Defense Colony Sim?
Colony Sim + Tower Defense
Of 54 developers who shipped a Tower Defense 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.. 96 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $12k, ×19 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.2M, ×5108 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 96 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,468) |
|---|---|
| Median | $12k (exactly $11,692) |
| Top 25% | $215k (exactly $214,693) |
| Top 5% | $3.2M (exactly $3,207,795) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 116 |
| Announced | 96 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 20% fewer 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
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Colony Sim, Tower Defense; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, City Builder
- Price point
- $10.99 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 $10.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 36,190 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Colony Sim with a different second tag, 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
They Are Billions 2019 · $42M 
Kingdom Two Crowns 2018 · $19M 
Diplomacy is Not an Option 2024 · $9.8M 
Craft The World 2014 · $8.6M 
Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition 2025 · $6.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
| | Kingdom Two Crowns | older | $19.99 | 31,259 90% | 938k | $19M (exactly $18,746,022) | Fury Studios, Coatsink |
| | Diplomacy is Not an Option | $29.99 | 10,904 85% | 327k | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) | Door 407 | |
| | Craft The World | older | $18.99 | 15,074 88% | 452k | $8.6M (exactly $8,587,658) | Dekovir Entertainment, Sibear Games |
| | Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition | $19.99 | 10,627 92% | 319k | $6.4M (exactly $6,373,012) | Firefly Studios | |
 | Stronghold Crusader HD (2012) | older | $9.99 | 17,564 97% | 527k | $5.3M (exactly $5,263,931) | Firefly Studios |
 | Kingdom: New Lands | older | $14.99 | 10,152 86% | 305k | $4.6M (exactly $4,565,354) | Noio |
 | Stronghold: Definitive Edition | older | $14.99 | 9,787 86% | 294k | $4.4M (exactly $4,401,214) | Firefly Studios |
 | Rise to Ruins | older | $14.99 | 7,234 87% | 217k | $3.3M (exactly $3,253,130) | Raymond Doerr |
 | 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 | |
 | Drill Core | $19.99 | 2,130 84% | 64k | $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) | Hungry Couch Games | |
 | DarkSwitch | $34.99 | 714 77% | 21k | $749k (exactly $749,486) | Cyber Temple | |
 | Gold Gold Adventure Gold | $24.99 | 907 70% | 27k | $680k (exactly $679,978) | Can Can Can a Man | |
 | Gnomes | $9.99 | 1,757 94% | 53k | $527k (exactly $526,573) | DYSTOPIAN | |
 | Calyx | · EA | $24.99 | 471 88% | 14k | $353k (exactly $353,109) | Studio 568 |
 | Zombie Cure Lab | $24.99 | 393 65% | 12k | $295k (exactly $294,632) | Thera Bytes GmbH |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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