Do I ship it?

GamesManagementManagement + Dwarves

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dwarf Management game?

Management + Dwarves

Only 13 developers shipped a Dwarf Management 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, Dwarf Eats Mountain, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.2k, ×5.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $750. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 18 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.2 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 18 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Dwarves
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.9k → $6.7k → $79k (still earning) → $748 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Dwarves: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $748 (exactly $748)
Median $3.2k (exactly $3,236)
Top 25% $29k (exactly $29,358)
Top 5% $334k (exactly $333,866)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 30
Announced 18
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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: too few recent games to read.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Management
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Dwarves
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Economy
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 2,395 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 $3.2k, 1 in 4 over $29k, 1 in 20 over $330k.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 18 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomeFair21 devs · median $64k · 23 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair195 devs · median $17k · 225 announced
  3. + WesternFair18 devs · median $13k · 22 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair114 devs · median $12k · 154 announced
  5. + JRPGFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  6. + MinigamesFair22 devs · median $7.4k · 15 announced
  7. + RhythmFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 24 announced
  8. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $5.0k · 54 announced
  9. + CollectathonFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  10. + 3D FighterFair11 devs · median $3.1k · 15 announced
  11. + IncrementalFair611 devs · median $1.9k · 893 announced
  12. + IdlerFair669 devs · median $1.9k · 877 announced

All 214 pairs on the Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dwarf Fortress older $29.99 29,303 94% 879k $26M (exactly $26,363,909) Bay 12 Games
KeeperRL older $19.99 1,677 83% 50k $1.0M (exactly $1,005,697) Electric Succubi
Dwarf Eats Mountain $9.99 1,114 80% 33k $334k (exactly $333,866) Green Wizard
Medieval Crafter: Blacksmith $11.99 745 76% 22k $268k (exactly $267,976) Compact Core Games
Dwarfs!? older $9.99 644 79% 19k $193k (exactly $193,007) Power of 2
Diggles: The Myth of Fenris older $9.99 619 89% 19k $186k (exactly $185,514) Spieleentwicklungskombinat GmbH, Genera… (Spieleentwicklungskombinat GmbH, General Arcade)
Gargadusa's Tower $8.99 294 90% 8.8k $79k (exactly $79,292) The Math Team
Adventurer Manager older $4.99 490 59% 15k $73k (exactly $73,353) Vigilant Addiction Studios
Hinterland older $9.99 224 82% 6.7k $67k (exactly $67,133) Tilted Mill Entertainment, Inc.
Lord of Dwarves older $19.99 71 76% 2.1k $43k (exactly $42,579) Stellar Sage Games
Mining and Dwarves $6.99 140 65% 4.2k $29k (exactly $29,358) Sockhouse Studios
Drill Rift $14.99 24 75% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Steam Veil Games
Deepstone Rift · EA $4.99 45 68% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) Northend Games
À La Mine $8.99 12 91% 360 $3.2k (exactly $3,236) Studio Dés Kréatifs
The Drunken Beard $4.99 11 100% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) JMP Games
Dwarf Guild Mania $6.99 5 80% 150 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Quarkblue
Dwarf Core $4.99 5 80% 150 $748 (exactly $748) IncludeSpark

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