Do I ship it?

GamesStrategyStrategy + Farming

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Farming Strategy game?

Strategy + Farming

Of 44 developers who shipped a Farming 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.. 42 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.3k, ×6.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $900. Revenue is up 880% on the market; 42 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 880% on the market, 42 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy + Farming
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $150k → $2.4k → $2.2k → $4.3k → $898 → $27k (still earning) → $16k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy + Farming: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $4.3k (exactly $4,316)
Top 25% $86k (exactly $85,767)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 89
Announced 42
Effort 5 / 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: revenue up 880% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Farming
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Strategy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Building
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $27.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $27.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 39,043 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $4.3k, 1 in 4 over $85k, 1 in 20 over $2.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds50 devs · median $65k · 27 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair62 devs · median $16k · 74 announced
  3. + BaseballFair14 devs · median $7.5k · 7 announced
  4. + LGBTQ+Fair89 devs · median $6.7k · 91 announced
  5. + WuxiaFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 41 announced
  6. + Martial ArtsFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 94 announced
  7. + SubmarineFair21 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  8. + NavalFair66 devs · median $2.2k · 88 announced
  9. + IdlerFair696 devs · median $1.9k · 988 announced
  10. + Shop KeeperFair159 devs · median $1.8k · 264 announced
  11. + HackingFair96 devs · median $1.2k · 132 announced
  12. + IncrementalFair785 devs · median $1.2k · 1,127 announced

All 275 pairs on the Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Farthest Frontier $34.99 24,444 86% 733k $26M (exactly $25,658,867) Crate Entertainment
Rusty's Retirement older $6.99 13,902 96% 417k $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) Mister Morris Games
Rise of Industry older $29.99 3,122 74% 94k $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) Dapper Penguin Studios
The Farmer Was Replaced $9.99 9,116 95% 273k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) Timon Herzog
Go-Go Town! $27.99 2,476 93% 74k $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) Prideful Sloth
Farm Manager 2018 older $19.99 2,524 70% 76k $1.5M (exactly $1,513,643) Cleversan Games
Farm Manager 2021 older $19.99 2,296 79% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,376,911) Cleversan Games
Jumplight Odyssey · EA older $29.99 961 58% 29k $865k (exactly $864,612) League of Geeks
Cat God Ranch older $9.99 1,831 92% 55k $549k (exactly $548,751) CrazyPotato Studio
EARTHLOCK older $29.99 381 76% 11k $343k (exactly $342,786) Snowcastle Games
Mini Settlers $12.99 592 85% 18k $231k (exactly $230,702) Knight Owl Games
Cropdeck $12.99 430 92% 13k $168k (exactly $167,571) Piotrek
Rise of Industry 2 $34.99 154 55% 4.6k $162k (exactly $161,654) SomaSim
Creator Chronicles $11.99 424 64% 13k $153k (exactly $152,513) Origin Studio
MR FARMBOY $9.99 480 85% 14k $144k (exactly $143,856) mrdboy
Agrivore: Incremental Farming $6.99 494 70% 15k $104k (exactly $103,592) verty
Another Farm Roguelike: Rebirth $6.99 433 69% 13k $91k (exactly $90,800) Zabbo Games

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