Do I ship it?

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Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Creature Collector Tactical game?

Tactical + Creature Collector

Of 48 developers who shipped a Creature Collector 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.. 93 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 $3.8k, ×6.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×390 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 93 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 93 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Creature Collector
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 48
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $3.3k → $54k → $4.8k → $7.9k → $748 (still earning) → $3.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Creature Collector: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 48
Bottom 30% $748 (exactly $748)
Median $3.8k (exactly $3,835)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $14,390)
Top 5% $245k (exactly $244,718)
Developers, 2 yr 48
Released games 94
Announced 93
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 down 55% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Creature Collector; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics, RPG
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 4,661 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $750, median $3.8k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 93 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Beastieball 2024 · EA · $1.1M Fae Tactics 2020 · $702k Anomaly President 2026 · EA · $619k Dicefolk 2024 · $390k Super Bullet Break 2022 · $260k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Beastieball · EA $24.99 1,483 97% 44k $1.1M (exactly $1,111,805) Wishes Ultd.
Fae Tactics older $19.99 1,170 86% 35k $702k (exactly $701,649) Endlessfluff Games
Anomaly President · EA $14.99 1,376 91% 41k $619k (exactly $618,787) Phew Phew Games
Dicefolk older $14.99 867 89% 26k $390k (exactly $389,890) LEAP Game Studios, Tiny Ghoul
Super Bullet Break older $19.99 434 81% 13k $260k (exactly $260,270) BeXide Inc.
The Monster Breeder $29.99 272 91% 8.2k $245k (exactly $244,718) Fantasy Creations
Mamon King $12.99 603 90% 18k $235k (exactly $234,989) LiTMUS Co., Ltd.
NEODUEL: Backpack Monsters $11.99 357 79% 11k $128k (exactly $128,413) dicehit, Rogue Duck Interactive
Dragon Spirits older $9.99 289 86% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,613) FHNBHJ
Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection One older $9.99 283 92% 8.5k $85k (exactly $84,815) Westwood Associates, Strategic Simulati… (Westwood Associates, Strategic Simulations)
Montabi $19.99 123 95% 3.7k $74k (exactly $73,763) Mankibo
Lost in Prayer · EA $19.99 92 80% 2.8k $55k (exactly $55,172) Nine Dots Studio
Novice Dungeon Master · EA $11.99 151 88% 4.5k $54k (exactly $54,315) LazyCnD
Bean Beasts $13.99 113 89% 3.4k $47k (exactly $47,426) Anxious Noob
Voidsayer $14.99 91 69% 2.7k $41k (exactly $40,923) Pavel Auseitasau

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.