Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Resource Management game?
Resource Management + Fantasy
Of 423 developers who shipped a Fantasy Resource Management 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.. 937 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×7.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×797 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 937 games are announced against 276 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $22,264) |
| Top 5% | $379k (exactly $378,591) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 423 |
| Released games | 945 |
| Announced | 937 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Fantasy
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Resource Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Management
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 44,138 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 176 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 937 games are announced against 276 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Resource Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + WesternFair
- + SnowFair
- + JRPGFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + HorsesFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
Comparable games
Outward Definitive Edition 2022 · $30M 
Dwarf Fortress 2022 · $26M 
Age of Mythology: Retold 2024 · $19M 
Loop Hero 2021 · $15M 
Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense 2021 · $9.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Outward Definitive Edition | older | $39.99 | 24,636 72% | 739k | $30M (exactly $29,555,809) | Nine Dots Studio |
| | Dwarf Fortress | older | $29.99 | 29,303 94% | 879k | $26M (exactly $26,363,909) | Bay 12 Games |
| | Age of Mythology: Retold | older | $29.99 | 20,943 90% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,842,417) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantal… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, CaptureAge, Virtuos Games) |
| | Loop Hero | older | $14.99 | 33,816 92% | 1.0M | $15M (exactly $15,207,055) | Four Quarters |
| | Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense | older | $24.99 | 12,607 86% | 378k | $9.5M (exactly $9,451,468) | AutoAttack Games |
 | Travellers Rest | · EA older | $17.99 | 16,538 87% | 496k | $8.9M (exactly $8,925,559) | Isolated Games |
 | Craft The World | older | $18.99 | 15,074 88% | 452k | $8.6M (exactly $8,587,658) | Dekovir Entertainment, Sibear Games |
 | Age of Darkness: Final Stand | $27.99 | 9,486 74% | 285k | $8.0M (exactly $7,965,394) | PlaySide | |
 | Yes, Your Grace | older | $19.99 | 12,571 87% | 377k | $7.5M (exactly $7,538,829) | Brave At Night |
 | Potionomics | older | $24.99 | 6,973 90% | 209k | $5.2M (exactly $5,227,658) | Voracious Games |
 | Pioneers of Pagonia | $34.99 | 4,794 81% | 144k | $5.0M (exactly $5,032,262) | Envision Entertainment | |
 | The King is Watching | $14.99 | 9,006 88% | 270k | $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) | Hypnohead | |
 | Mind Over Magic | $24.99 | 4,314 86% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,234,206) | Sparkypants | |
 | Emberward | $19.99 | 3,775 96% | 113k | $2.3M (exactly $2,263,868) | Refic Games | |
 | Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure | $29.99 | 1,867 82% | 56k | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) | Massive Miniteam | |
 | Kaiju Princess 2 | $17.99 | 3,107 96% | 93k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,848) | PantyParrot | |
 | Ascension | · EA | $19.99 | 2,437 60% | 73k | $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) | Element Game 微元游戏 |
 | Restaurats | $19.90 | 1,640 89% | 49k | $979k (exactly $979,080) | toR Studio | |
 | Fortune Mill | $7.99 | 3,712 81% | 111k | $890k (exactly $889,766) | Lavaflame2 |
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.