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Should I ship a Trading Colony Sim?
Colony Sim + Trading
Of 20 developers who shipped a Trading 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.. 72 more are announced, ×5.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×827 the market median. Revenue is up 105% on the market; 72 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,146) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,350) |
| Top 5% | $520k (exactly $519,542) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 51 |
| Announced | 72 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.00 |
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 105% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Trading
- 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, Trading; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Base Building, Building
- Price point
- $10.00 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $10.00.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,204 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 72 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.1 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
Pharaoh™: A New Era 2023 · $3.3M 
The Guild II Renaissance 2010 · $1.1M 
Nebuchadnezzar 2021 · $865k 
Synergy 2025 · $520k 
Primitive Society Simulator 2024 · EA · $388k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Pharaoh™: A New Era | older | $22.99 | 4,811 75% | 144k | $3.3M (exactly $3,318,147) | Triskell Interactive |
| | The Guild II Renaissance | older | $9.99 | 3,540 82% | 106k | $1.1M (exactly $1,060,938) | Runeforge Game Studio |
| | Nebuchadnezzar | older | $19.99 | 1,443 79% | 43k | $865k (exactly $865,367) | Nepos Games |
| | Synergy | $24.99 | 693 79% | 21k | $520k (exactly $519,542) | Leikir Studio | |
| | Primitive Society Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 647 83% | 19k | $388k (exactly $388,006) | YSH BigDove |
 | Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) | · EA older | $23.99 | 267 72% | 8.0k | $192k (exactly $192,160) | Happy Daram Inc. |
 | Mad Tower Tycoon | older | $14.99 | 413 77% | 12k | $186k (exactly $185,726) | Eggcode |
 | One More Island | older | $19.99 | 195 68% | 5.9k | $117k (exactly $116,941) | Berg Games |
 | Tlatoani: Aztec Cities | $19.99 | 180 83% | 5.4k | $108k (exactly $107,946) | Perspective Games, Bellwood Studios | |
 | AColony | · EA older | $19.99 | 116 87% | 3.5k | $70k (exactly $69,565) | ZeroTris |
 | Wild West Miner Simulator | $5.99 | 181 66% | 5.4k | $33k (exactly $32,526) | Digital Melody | |
 | Union Of Rivals | · EA | $25.49 | 31 64% | 930 | $24k (exactly $23,706) | 2Play |
 | Deep Space Outpost | $15.99 | 32 71% | 960 | $15k (exactly $15,350) | Niris Games | |
 | Cube Kingdoms | $7.49 | 27 92% | 810 | $6.1k (exactly $6,067) | GamingPugsStudios | |
 | Exodus: The Colonization of Space | $6.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $4.0k (exactly $3,984) | Artex | |
 | The EverFloating Island | $19.99 | 6 33% | 180 | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) | GU GAMES | |
 | Truck City | $5.99 | 20 80% | 600 | $3.6k (exactly $3,594) | Mikel Fernandez | |
 | Ancient Savo | $6.99 | 15 93% | 450 | $3.1k (exactly $3,146) | Erkka Lehmus |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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