Games › Grand Strategy › Grand Strategy + Grid-Based Movement
Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Grid-Based Movement
Only 8 developers shipped a Grid-Based Movement Grand Strategy 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, Tactical Annihilation, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.1k, ×4.1 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $330; 1 in 20 cleared $26k, ×18 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 15 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $327 (exactly $327) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.1k (exactly $6,138) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $23,740) |
| Top 5% | $27k (exactly $26,863) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 25 |
| Announced | 15 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $10.89 |
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 15% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 32%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grand Strategy
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Grand Strategy, Grid-Based Movement
- Price point
- $10.89 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 366 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $330. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + SportsFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CrimeFair
- + RacingFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot
- + TabletopLong shot
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Tactical Annihilation 2026 · $27k 
Astro Protocol 2026 · $24k 
Star Traders: 4X Empires 2014 · $18k 
The Ancients 2024 · EA · $12k 
Ambition of the Slimes 2018 · $9.0k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tactical Annihilation | $15.99 | 56 98% | 1.7k | $27k (exactly $26,863) | B.G. Game Studio | |
| | Astro Protocol | $11.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $24k (exactly $23,740) | Null Vector Studios | |
| | Star Traders: 4X Empires | older | $9.99 | 61 60% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $18,282) | Trese Brothers |
| | The Ancients | · EA older | $19.99 | 20 55% | 600 | $12k (exactly $11,994) | GorillaSoftWorks |
| | Ambition of the Slimes | older | $4.99 | 60 86% | 1.8k | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) | altairworks |
 | Heroic Aegisio: Origins | $7.99 | 27 77% | 810 | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) | Vview Games | |
 | Antiyoy | $4.99 | 41 85% | 1.2k | $6.1k (exactly $6,138) | yiotro | |
 | Rails Across America | older | $9.99 | 18 72% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | Flying Lab Software, ZOOM Platform Medi… (Flying Lab Software, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
 | Roman General | · EA | $8.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $3.0k (exactly $2,967) | Moore Games |
 | Kuro Tactics | older | $2.99 | 6 33% | 180 | $538 (exactly $538) | KurowareLLC |
 | Ashen Destiny | · EA | $10.89 | 1 100% | 30 | $327 (exactly $327) | Arrow & Blade Games |
 | Sidyq | · EA | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Yozamu |
 | Altus Chess-Archaic Beginnings | $24.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Arcane Architecture Limited |
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.