Games › Tactical › Tactical + Crafting
Should I ship a Crafting Tactical game?
Tactical + Crafting
Of 96 developers who shipped a Crafting Tactical game 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.. 203 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $440k, ×704 the market median. Revenue is up 135% on the market; 203 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,397) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,193) |
| Top 5% | $442k (exactly $442,323) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 96 |
| Released games | 247 |
| Announced | 203 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 135% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical, Crafting; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RPG, Resource Management
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 10,975 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 9 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 203 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Foxhole 2022 · $43M 
News Tower 2025 · $3.2M 
Little Big Workshop 2019 · $1.5M 
The Settlers: New Allies 2024 · $1.4M 
The Oregon Trail 2022 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Foxhole | older | $29.99 | 47,330 79% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $42,582,801) | Siege Camp |
| | News Tower | $24.99 | 4,316 94% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,235,705) | Sparrow Night | |
| | Little Big Workshop | older | $19.99 | 2,522 84% | 76k | $1.5M (exactly $1,512,443) | Mirage Game Studios |
| | The Settlers: New Allies | older | $39.99 | 1,175 49% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,409,648) | Ubisoft Düsseldorf |
| | The Oregon Trail | older | $29.99 | 1,220 79% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,097,634) | Gameloft |
 | GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath | older | $12.99 | 2,691 88% | 81k | $1.0M (exactly $1,048,683) | Game in a Bottle |
 | Urban Strife | $34.99 | 653 69% | 20k | $685k (exactly $685,454) | White Pond Games | |
 | Anomaly President | · EA | $14.99 | 1,376 91% | 41k | $619k (exactly $618,787) | Phew Phew Games |
 | Tangy TD | $9.99 | 1,508 90% | 45k | $452k (exactly $451,948) | Cakez | |
 | Survive the Fall | $24.99 | 590 65% | 18k | $442k (exactly $442,323) | Angry Bulls Studio | |
 | Approaching Infinity | $17.99 | 723 95% | 22k | $390k (exactly $390,203) | IBOL | |
 | Machine Mind | $19.99 | 567 71% | 17k | $340k (exactly $340,030) | Chudo-Yudo Games | |
 | Castle Of Alchemists | $14.99 | 618 80% | 19k | $278k (exactly $277,915) | Team Machiavelli | |
 | BREAK ARTS III | $17.99 | 334 80% | 10k | $180k (exactly $180,260) | MercuryStudio | |
 | CFS (Chinese Football Simulator) | $9.99 | 290 67% | 8.7k | $87k (exactly $86,913) | 悟空实验室 |
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.