Games › Strategy › Strategy + Dwarves
Should I ship a Dwarf Strategy game?
Strategy + Dwarves
Of 26 developers who shipped a Dwarf Strategy 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.7k, ×5.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $520k, ×838 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 53 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.7k (exactly $3,711) |
| Top 25% | $79k (exactly $79,292) |
| Top 5% | $527k (exactly $526,573) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 115 |
| Announced | 53 |
| 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 1100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, 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
- Strategy; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Roguelike, Base Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 7,342 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Total War: WARHAMMER III 2022 · $189M 
Total War: WARHAMMER II 2017 · $153M 
Total War: WARHAMMER 2016 · $58M 
Dwarf Fortress 2022 · $26M 
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition 2010 · $26M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Total War: WARHAMMER III | older | $59.99 | 104,822 71% | 3.1M | $189M (exactly $188,648,153) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive |
| | Total War: WARHAMMER II | older | $59.99 | 85,134 92% | 2.6M | $153M (exactly $153,215,660) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Total War: WARHAMMER | older | $59.99 | 32,105 79% | 963k | $58M (exactly $57,779,368) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (L… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Linux), Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
| | Dwarf Fortress | older | $29.99 | 29,303 94% | 879k | $26M (exactly $26,363,909) | Bay 12 Games |
| | Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition | older | $29.99 | 28,721 85% | 862k | $26M (exactly $25,840,284) | BioWare |
 | Pillars of Eternity | older | $29.99 | 16,990 87% | 510k | $15M (exactly $15,285,903) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Craft The World | older | $18.99 | 15,074 88% | 452k | $8.6M (exactly $8,587,658) | Dekovir Entertainment, Sibear Games |
 | SpellForce 3 Reforced | older | $39.99 | 5,784 76% | 174k | $6.9M (exactly $6,939,065) | Grimlore Games |
 | Age of Wonders III | older | $29.99 | 7,020 81% | 211k | $6.3M (exactly $6,315,894) | Triumph Studios |
 | Shadowrun Returns | older | $14.99 | 9,521 88% | 286k | $4.3M (exactly $4,281,594) | Harebrained Schemes |
 | Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot | $14.99 | 2,588 82% | 78k | $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) | Hamma Studios | |
 | Gnomes | $9.99 | 1,757 94% | 53k | $527k (exactly $526,573) | DYSTOPIAN | |
 | 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 | |
 | Hold The Mine | · EA | $14.99 | 338 83% | 10k | $152k (exactly $151,999) | Hookaria Games |
 | Union of Gnomes | $14.99 | 270 80% | 8.1k | $121k (exactly $121,419) | Hoolignomes | |
 | Gargadusa's Tower | $8.99 | 294 90% | 8.8k | $79k (exactly $79,292) | The Math Team | |
 | Mining and Dwarves | $6.99 | 140 65% | 4.2k | $29k (exactly $29,358) | Sockhouse Studios | |
 | Gem Miner TD | $12.99 | 72 97% | 2.2k | $28k (exactly $28,058) | iFeral Games | |
 | Drill Rift | $14.99 | 24 75% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | Steam Veil Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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